Abstract
The article discusses the UK Government's White Paper on the future of transport, published in July 1998. The main problems are seen as the congestion and environmental externalities associated with road traffic and the absence of a real choice in many cases for the traveller. Use of the car is perceived as a problem with the difficulty of setting real road traffic targets at national level as well as environmental costs. The White Paper is considered a useful statement on which to build although difficult political decisions will be required to put the policy into practice.