Your article ( Vienna’s public transport is the envy of the world – so why can’t it ditch cars?, 6 May ) is a real challenge for UK politicians and policymakers.

In March, Create Streets, Freewheeling and the Campaign for Better Transport, supported by the RAC Foundation, published the report Towns and Trams , advocating the use of trams to unblock city congestion, as in Vienna. Sadly, the tram scheme for Leeds is on ice until the late 2030s .

Trams give 90% of the benefits of metros at 10% of the cost. For the cost of the Elizabeth line, London could have a world-class tramway over 1,000km long, more than twice the length of the tube network.

Even in London, bus use has been declining by about 1.5% a year , despite efforts to attract more trips.…