Last summer as the 361 bus I was travelling in from Bromley came to a halt in a traffic hold-up near BeckenhamJunction station, I could see out of the window I notwhich read: "Bus priority and parking system + London priority network".

A great wave of relief swept over me, something it seemed, was about to be done by Bromley Council to tackle the awful traffic congestion around Beckenham.

I imagined buses gliding down bus lanes and traffic moving smoothly along one-way streets.

This year arrived, and while I continued to see these splendidly hopeful road signs all around - except for the introduction of pay-meters along Beckenham High Street and some painted thick yellow lines at bus stops, nothing else had changed.

So I rang Bromley Council's transport department to ask the date the splendid London Bus Priority Network would be implemented.

The answer I received was that the scheme was already operating - the minimal changes along the High Street was the scheme.

My high hopes were shattered, especially when I recently read that a new road report reavealed that any meaningful system for getting traffic congestion reduced and people out of their cars and on to public transport, would cost £1m-a-mile to install and any lesser option just would not work.

The question is: will Bromley Council, the soon-to-be installed London Authority, and the Government be prepared to come up with that sort of money to make the roads of London tolerable for us - its inhabitants?

Bill Mason

Beckenham

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