According to new research by the Campaign for Better Transport, London, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and Belfast all were in the bottom half of an ‘ease-of-travel’ city table recently released. Stockholm came out on top as the best European city to travel without a personal car, closely followed by Helsinki, then Prague and Paris.

Compare this to London, which ranked eighth or Cardiff ninth, while Dublin, Edinburgh and Belfast were tenth, eleventh and twelfth respectively. Only Rome, in last place, was deemed less 'green' and public transport-friendly than the UK's main cities.

The categories that the cities were judged on included ease of access to public transport, public attitudes to car use, congestion levels and the side effects from cars. Londoners are also subjected to the highest fares out of all the major European cities.

CBT chief executive Stephen Joseph said: 'Car dependency damages communities, affects our quality of life and has huge environmental consequences, so the UK cities' poor standing should be of major concern to politicians.

'To catch up with the best in Europe the UK Governments need to recognise the economic benefits of good air quality and road safety, and ensure public transport, walking and cycling are comparable to car use in terms of cost, journey time and quality.'

Source: Daily Mail