“I don't really agree with you about the congestion; I don't experience much delay on the rare occasions when I use my car in Bristol. But you're dead right about the crazy driving. Boy racers frequently hurtle through the backstreets of Montpelier at 50-60mph. I find this behaviour really weird. Why would anyone do this? Do they actually WANT to kill someone?”

“It is interesting that you question the City's quest for the title of green Capital of Britain and link Congestion. This is a very valid take on it but I believe that what we have is congestion purposely created by design. This is incompatible with Green credentials. Why: Because they are actively contradicting , by their actions, the holy grail of the solution to 'man made global warming' something that I do not agree with anyway because there has always been climate change of its own accord through out history. By inhibiting the free flow of traffic so called carbon dioxide is being increased.

As you point out we have an ineffectual public transport system which means that we have to rely on our own means to get from A to B. Research many years ago in a Scandinavian country pinpointed that the most efficient way of achieving this is by maintaining a constant velocity of 50 Kilometres an hour (31 mph).

Traffic calming measures are also another method that promotes inefficiency. This occurs in different ways and again impedes the free flow of traffic, or as I had experienced the snapping of a front suspension on a Mondeo which was repaired and a later MOT pointed to a seized front bearing. This was no surprise since every day I have to negotiate speed bumps. When this problem was repaired the fuel efficiency went up. How many vehicles have incrementally damaged and inefficient wheel bearings as the result of daily negotiating speed bumps?

Many Bristolians must have observed how choke points have been created and all traffic diverted to them, or two lanes reduced to one, traffic lights out of phase with others ahead so that when your light is green you cant go any where because of backed up traffic as a result of the red light ahead.

Traffic that once had a direct route from The Horse Fair to Old Market is now diverted through a 'dogs hind leg' instead of being straight forward and there will always be a 'valid' explanation' when a philosophy has to be justified. You can see in the smaller things the reason for the bigger picture and my suspicion is that the bigger picture and goal is congestion charging: That is a constant stream of income for the council.

On the question of aspirational self-promotion, I do remember when Bristol was seeking to be the City of Culture and had to agree that Bristol had an awful lot of culture stuck to the floor of the old Bus Station.”