NICK Blitz commented (Letters September 2) in response to Christian Vassie’s ideas for trams in York that “there is not enough road space for existing car demand, yet Mr Vassie wants to superimpose trams”.

Perhaps this argument needs reversing.

Give tram operation artificial priority, and many residents will choose to leave their cars at home for many local journeys.

Manchester Metro uses a mixture of dedicated and shared road space, and in some cases links up outside the city centre with former Network Rail tracks eg to Bury and Altrincham. The system already handles more than 29 million journeys a year, with the potential to top 40 million after planned expansion.

York’s long-term choices are to either continue catering for those in the fast lane, or to invest sensibly in fast-lane solutions.

Paul Hepworth, Windmill Rise, York.