Public transport needs imporving, say city dwellers

By Charlotte Birch

Transport and traffic are the key areas city dwellers would like to see improved, a survey has found.

The worldwide poll found that residents believe improvements in these areas, rather than in environment or safety, would make their cities better places to live.

A majority of 60 per cent would put public transport, road links and parking at the top of their priority list if they were in charge of a big city, perhaps in a bid to drive down motoring costs following spikes in car insurance.

The report, prepared for Philips by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and based on hundreds of urban respondents, also found that more than 50 per cent would be happy to pay more tax to see improvements in roads and public transport.

And it appears youngsters are most happy with city life, with many over-60s preferring to move to rural areas, the survey said.

The report concluded that city councils should take on board the opinions of its dwellers to help get the best from infrastructure practices and services.