Contrary Mary's Road Rant

I am a contrary sod, I know that. I don't follow the crowd in the way I think, look, behave, eat or believe. And I don't trust the media or the government; whatever they say I immediately assume they are lying. This contrariness has so far stood me in good stead and I have no plans to change it, unless everyone starts copying me of course. Take the A11 expansion in Suffolk. This is supposed to be the answer to our traffic congestion prayers - make the road wider and the traffic will flow better, easing the jams that build up in my little market town caused by drivers taking shortcuts to avoid the, er, traffic. We have lorries clogging up our narrow high street because a neighbouring local authority, not even our own one, gave them permission to cut through our town after businesses complained taking the longer way round was costing too much. And strike me down with an AA route planner but I'm a driver yet I don't want to ease the traffic by widening roads. I want to ease the traffic by improving our pathetic so called public transport. Put more of those extra long cars with lots of seats in, buses I believe they're called, put more of them on the road. But of course that won't happen because the road lobby want us to drive our individual fuel wasting, countryside flattening cars. There's a lot of money to be had from selling cars, selling accessories, charging tolls, charging for taxes, MOT tests and licences, and not forgetting of course the massive profits to be made from the sale of petrol and diesel. The bus companies won't put on more buses because there is not enough profit in it for them. These people bid for the routes knowing full well they would not be able to maintain a "service" to benefit the passengers. As profit making concerns their priority is to make money, not to get passengers from village to town and back again. I have to drive to get to work in Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area. I would rather take the bus than drive and I would love to get on a bus that departs on time and gets me there on time. But our buses run at two hour intervals, at times which are not conducive to many people's working patterns. Capitalism does not have the will to fix these problems; its priority is to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. Any concern for the environment and passengers is at odds with this. And they say I'm contrary.