There is little point in buses lumbering around empty, like centipedes, depositing carbon

The media certainly reported increased cycling activity. Well, it was one of the last fine days of summer, so walking and cycling were pleasant options. But the single-occupant gas-guzzlers were definitely still in evidence – maybe revelling in all that extra empty space.

Not so the Connex No 1 and No 18. At ten o’clock that Wednesday morning, both were heaving to bursting point along St Clement’s Coast Road, leaving would-be passengers to muse on whether publicity for the event had been matched by the provision of extra wheels to convey the anticipated take-up.

At least all the cycling and walking missionary tents added a touch of much-needed colour to the Royal Square. Our local contribution to going green was part of a nationwide campaign to convince the public that both the environment and individuals deserve a healthier option than car travel.

Transport accounts for around a quarter of British domestic carbon dioxide emissions. Eighty-four per cent of passenger journeys are made in motor vehicles, six per cent in buses and coaches and seven per cent in trains.

The UK bus industry has been mounting a strong campaign for the high ground, claiming that if one in 25 car journeys were made by bus or coach, one billion car journeys would be saved, producing two million tonnes less of carbon dioxide.

Of course, that ignores the factor experienced by the disappointed users of the No 1 and No 18, namely, in order to get people out of their cars there has to be a convenient alternative readily available that is also reliable and cheap.

Furthermore, thinking locally, if everybody did sign up to travelling in buses, how many more buses would be needed? Connex has indeed seduced us with the possible return of double-deck travel to the Airport, improving capacity as well as satisfying a lust for peering over hedges. The company has also been evaluating a new conventional single-deck vehicle which boasts accommodation for 63 passengers. But where’s the incentive to espouse public travel to come from?

Convenience is a powerful motivator, tempting individuals to hang on to independent propulsion – that and a desire to arrive at a destination dry, warm and within a couple of minutes of a deadline.

For the moment, this remains an Island luxury, given the short distances involved. The drudgery of mass city commuting is unknown, though intensive building in the countryside could alter the prospect.

Simply pricing people onto inadequate public transport isn’t an option. And it’s important not to confuse the blackmail of ‘green’ initiatives with a serious policy by-pass on traffic infrastructure.

An everyday breeze in the saddle may be fine for the rude and hardy, but it is simply not appropriate for a substantial section of our Island population. That’s not to say that cycling doesn’t provide a thoroughly attractive alternative to sitting in traffic jams.

The Paris municipal authority may claim that it pioneered the trendy new mode of hire-bikes for negotiating modern city traffic, though I’m sure they have long been around in other northern European towns boasting green credentials and few hills.

However, if the empty pavement-side racks are a true indication of two-wheeled commuter enthusiasm, the initiative certainly appears to have gone down well with chic Parisian pedlars quite capable of creating velocipede mayhem of their own.

So it is intriguing to discover that flushed with his victory over banishing London’s bendibuses – those city-centre leviathans which at 18 metres long could scoop up a street-full of passengers at a stop – Mayor ‘Boris the Bike’ Johnson has espoused a similar concept. London’s might be navy blue instead of Parisian jade, but they too stand in serried ranks awaiting a patchy take-up by brave London cycling amateurs. They are pretty clunky, though, with a ride described as ‘pedalling a sofa’.

Not that that deterred one determined individual from riding one all the way to Newcastle to raise money for charity, only to discover that the London operator had frozen his account and fined him £300!

Because we don’t all want to go to the same place at the same time, our habits provide a dilemma for even sophisticated city planners. There is very little point in buses constantly lumbering around routes empty, depositing carbon footprints like wayward centipedes. As with our new incinerator – sorry, EfW plant – the fuller they are, the greater their efficiency.

Hang on, what about an ‘energy for buses’ option using electrical power generated for Connex by its La Collette neighbour? We may have missed the tram, now making a silent, low-emission return to cities worldwide, and we’re never going to face a Tube strike to force us into donning plimsolls and bicycle capes to travel to work, but we’ve got to be on the look-out for a fistful of options to provide a viable, flexible transport system, while, yes, promoting a healthy lifestyle.

We’ve seen some whacky experiments to compare journey experiences. I recall a competition earlier this year between car, bus and boat from St Aubin to town during the morning rush-hour, involving a former Formula 1 racing driver, a Deputy Transport Minister and a sailing instructor. It achieved little more than to emphasise that you pays your money and you takes your choice.

There may come a time when in order to make that choice, we will be expected to pay an awful lot more. If and when such a time does come, it will serve as an indictment of our failure to get on our bikes and lay the basis of an integrated transport system attractive to everyone.