LOCAL authorities and fleet managers attending the Transport Beyond the White Paper conference heard that the Government's white paper on integrated transport had to be treated as the best opportunity to change attitudes to the car, no matter what it contained.

Delegates heard that although definite assumptions about what might be in the white paper could not be made, an overall feel for what it might hold could be gathered. Professor Phil Goodwin, director of the Economic and Social Research Council Transport Studies Unit, at University College London, told the conference it could expect to see more integration of different types of transport and a formal abandonment of building roads to meet ever increasing demand.

Fears have been raised that the white paper could end up as a 'damp squib' as the Government seems to be backing away from radical measures to cut traffic. But Nicky Gavron, chairman of the planning committee of the local government association, who was chairing the conference, said: 'The white paper will not be the final word, more the beginning of a process. It is a unique opportunity to set the agenda for transport policy in the future.'