The widest public consultation yet seen in York is being launched by the city council to help create its new five-year transport plan.

Residents are to be asked for their views on transport priorities and options through two city-wide leaflets, public meetings and a market research survey.

Responses will be taken into account before the new draft plan is considered by the planning and transport committee in June, prior to being sent off for Government approval in July.

The first leaflet will be delivered to all York households on Wednesday next week and the second will follow four weeks later.

The council needs to address such problems as the fact that 6,000 more vehicles come into York every day now than in 1991 and this increase is expected to continue in the future.

"We must move forward on transport and, therefore, this is one of the most important consultations we have carried out as a council," said Coun Dave Merrett, chairman of the planning and transport committee.

"To win Government funding for transport measures in York for the next five years, we need to demonstrate what the views of York residents are and that there is support for the content of our plan.

"We need to know what people's views are on tackling traffic congestion and transport policy currently and what they would like to see in the future. Subsequently, we will be putting forward a series of strategic options to tackle York's transport problems for them to choose from."

Coun Merrett said: "In all our previous research, people consistently tell us that traffic congestion is the most important issue facing the city and that they believe it is getting worse.

"What we are now doing is asking people directly in a way we have never done before in a clear two-stage process."

As part of the consultation, residents are invited to attend presentations at neighbourhood forum and parish council meetings between mid-March and the end of April.

Information displays will tour libraries and other venues across the city on the following dates:

March 20 to March 27: York Central, Tang Hall and Huntington libraries

March 27 to April 3: Barbican Centre, Acomb and Dringhouses libraries

March 31 to April 1: mobile display unit at St Sampson's Square

April 3 to April 10: Bishopthorpe and Haxby libraries

April 8 to April 9: Designer Outlet

April 10 to April 17: Clifton and Poppleton libraries.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.