Road reality

There have been promises of a supertram, a trolley bus system and hundreds of extra train carriages, all of which appear to be stuck in the slow lane.

Finally, Leeds City Council has announced a transport project. Sadly, however, it is unlikely to shorten the miles of tailbacks encoutered each day or ease overcrowding on rush-hour trains – £300,000 is being spent on screens to tell commuters about the problems they are about to endure.

The 11 screens will be “high definition” – although why such expensive technology is necessary has not been explained. It is hard to see what positive impact broadcasting Leeds traffic problems will have, other than to send the message that the gridlocked city centre is invariably closed for business.

Local authorities are facing unprecedented funding cuts and will need to find revolutionary ways to provide public services. Frittering away £300,000 on this project is not the best of starts.