Concern over facilities for dog walking at Braypool, Brighton, highlights the challenges the city faces in developing an effective transport system.

Worsening air quality, congestion hot spots and significant growth in visitors as new developments planned for the seafront come to fruition, confirm the need for action.

Those who advocate underground city-centre car parks ignore the consequential worsening of air quality and gridlock they would cause on approach roads. Road building within the city is not an option.

However, our city depends on visitor growth for its future prosperity.

In an ideal world, visitors will all use public transport for their entire journey but, for many, the car will always be a practical and sensible option, especially as the M25 and other motorways are widened.

Until congestion charging is more politically and technically acceptable, we must live with the practicalities we currently face.

Transferring car parking spaces from the city centre to a park-and-ride site on the outskirts, combined with frequent buses along dedicated lanes to the centre and seafront developments, will ensure visitors but not their cars will be attracted along approach roads and into the central area.

More city-centre space can then be allocated for the enjoyment of pedestrians and Brighton and Hove Buses can move even more people around by bus, with further increases in frequencies and new routes.

Critics of park-and-ride say it undermines existing bus services.

Ironically, it is the absence of park-and-ride in our city which threatens further expansion of the bus network, as key roads remain congested and junctions have reached their capacity.

Whatever site is chosen for the park-and-ride car park, it is important practical and imaginative solutions are found for any displacement, including dog walking, so no one loses out.

One thing, however, is certain. Without park-and-ride, we're going nowhere.

-Roger French, managing director, Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company