£100k to knock a minute off travel time

Letter from Ian to the Kent Messenger:

Dear Editor,

So travel times through Maidstone by car have fallen by 40 seconds per mile, getting people to their destinations perhaps 1.5 minutes quicker, and average speeds have increased from 14mph to 17mph (KM 27 Feb) as a result of £100,000 of investment to get the traffic light sequences
working properly.

While this will help to bring about a negligible improvement in air quality in Maidstone, and almost imperceptible improvements in average journey times, surely this money could have been more wisely spent on improving public transport, along with cycling and walking facilities, and thereby reducing traffic volume rather than getting it to travel slightly faster than at present.

The daily congestion that throttles Maidstone cannot be overcome by tinkering with traffic lights; only major improvements in the quality, cost, and convenience of adequate public transport, together with healthy alternatives to car dependence, can provide an effective solution to Maidstone's transport problems, as many other major UK cities have proved, with bold initiatives, and appropriate levels of county and civic political and financial support.

Ian McDonald
Transport Spokesperson, Maidstone Green Party