The irony is that Oxford now has one of the most restrictive traffic policies in the UK (congestion charging, traffic filters) and it's working quite well. Buses are faster, footfall is up, and the city center is more pleasant.

Cars in dense historic city centers really don't make sense. They take up enormous space for parking, create noise and pollution, and are slower than walking or cycling for most trips within city limits.

Would be interesting to see what Tolkien would think of modern urbanism movements. Feels very aligned with his values.

So far it seems to be making a noticeable, albeit modest difference. Traffic in the city centre is clearly reduced. Buses are no longer queueing for ages at the Plain (the notorious roundabout that connects East Oxford to the city centre) - in fact, bus journey times are improved throughout. There are some knock-on effects, particularly in North Oxford in the evening peak, but generally it's working well. Footfall in the city centre remains high according to official figures, and certainly it was pretty rammed yesterday when I was doing my Christmas shopping.

It's only the third congestion charge to have been implemented in the UK, after London and Durham. (The Oxford scheme thus far is a slightly watered-down version of the full "traffic filters" mentioned in the review, because of the overrunning closure of the bridge by the railway station which cuts off one of the main routes into Oxford.)

So Tolkien was right. Ignore the conspiracy theorists. Have courage and fight back. Cars in historic city centres like Oxford are not something we have to just accept.