PETER Boulton (Letters, September 20) claims that we’ll never cure York’s traffic problems, so there’s no point in bringing in consultants. He also says, by way of contradiction, that we simply have to re-adjust the traffic lights. This advice comes from Mr Boulton free of charge, in contrast to the consultants being brought in at £400 per day, which he objects to.

This city badly needs a radical re-evaluation of its transport policy, which currently results in gridlock, health damage from pollution, and poorer quality of life for all of us. Many cities all over Europe were like York and have gone a long way to solving their problems. Ironically Mr Boulton’s own trade, of taxi-driving, would do much better within a York with more sustainable transport arrangements.

By the way, £400 a day sounds like great value for good consultants, who are usually part of companies with high infrastructure and research costs. My own organisation was charging that amount fourteen years ago (in a different field). York’s proposed expenditure is peanuts compared to the direct and indirect costs of trying to manage the current situation.

Jim McGurn, chief executive, Get Cycling CiC, Hospital Fields Road, York.