I AM dismayed to learn that City of York Council may axe the green travel awareness post in its transport department.

New research commissioned by the Department for Transport has found "soft transport measures" give a fantastic rate of return.

Soft measures aim at giving better information and opportunities to help drivers cut their car use while enhancing the appeal of alternatives.

These popular ideas include:

- Workplace and school travel plans;

- Travel awareness campaigns and public transport information;

- Car clubs;

- Teleworking, teleconferencing and home shopping.

Every £1 spent on well-designed soft measures brings £10 of benefit in reduced congestion alone, plus environmental improvements. This is crucial to York, because our air quality is poor and we have suffered from the effects of climate change.

Transport always rates highly in resident concerns. We must keep the TravelWise post in order to help York people choose to drive less.

Anna Semlyen,

Grange Street,

York.

Updated: 11:36 Saturday, February 19, 2005