THE Transport and Technical Services initiative to encourage Islanders to make less use of private motor vehicles, which was launched yesterday, is likely to be applauded by anyone who has been caught in rush-hour traffic or has witnessed school-run gridlock.

Manifestly, the private car is a curse as well as a blessing, present patterns of use making Island life less pleasant than it might be if more logic were applied to the way in which we make routine journeys.

Key statistics emphasise just how reliant Islanders are on the car. Although 11 per cent of Islanders do not own a vehicle, the remaining 89 per cent demonstrate remarkable enthusiasm for the internal combustion engine. For example, 12,000 people make their way into St Helier by car each weekday morning but only 860 take the bus. Even more tellingly, two-thirds of cars in rush-our congestion have only one person in them.

Yet although it is anything but difficult to set out the case for shifting the transport balance away from the private car, Transport and Technical Services will face an uphill struggle in this latest attempt to alter patterns of behaviour. Transport Minister Mike Jackson is, laudably, determined to ‘shake things up’, but changing habits which have become ingrained over many years is never easy.

However, as Mr Jackson is aware, there is more to the motor vehicle issue than congestion – which many Islanders are clearly willing to tolerate in return for the privilege of using weather-proof door-to-door transport. He and his officers will also appeal to people’s concerns about health, fitness and the environment, subjects which resonate more powerfully now than ever before.

Walking and cycling are the obvious healthy and green alternatives to the car, but taking the bus – which will for most people involve a stroll to the bus-stop – also has obvious benefits for individuals and the environment.

But appeals to common sense and efforts to highlight the health advantages of walking and cycling are unlikely to promote mass rejection of the private car. The new transport strategy must involve more tangible encouragement and elements of compulsion if it is to succeed.

Against this background, the promised eastern cycle path is certainly a positive development. The same would apply to the expansion of the bus service and a new ‘green bike’ scheme – though past experience has shown that too many people are willing to abuse such initiatives.

And, like it or not, compulsion in the shape of increased parking charges and even a St Helier congestion charge will have to be part of the plan if real change is expected to emerge from this latest attempt to grapple with such a long-standing problem.