Plans to take cars out of towns and urban centres is leaving the majority of people behind.
That's according to Conor Skehan, former chair of the Housing Agency and a Sunday Independent columnist.
He says no matter how many bikes are used, they may ultimately never replace a car.
He told The Hard Shoulder older people particularly are being left behind.
"We need to have a more even-handed approach: they can't take something away with one hand without putting something back in the other.
"A lot of our thinking about town centre planning focuses too much on the able-bodied and doesn't think about the totality of society.
"The well-intentioned stuff to do with pedestrianisation and cycling provision doesn't account for the fact that when you make those decisions you're leaving behind, probably, the majority.
"A lot of those provisions do very little either to help elderly people, in particular - in fact it can often harm them.
"And then huge slices of society, particularly women and particularly women with children, are very badly disadvantaged.
"It's well written up in other literature, but planners I'm afraid don't listen to it enough".
Electric cars 'still have to park'
Conor believes women are more disadvantaged as they use cars differently.
"The vast majority of people who are carrying passengers in a vehicle are women, and they're often carrying either children or other older women".
He says congestion, as a result of more people coming into towns and city centres, is a consequence.
"We're encouraging more people into the town - what we're trying to do is bring all our towns and villages back to life.
"They will always use some type of transportation.
"Even the countries with the highest level of cycle use in the world - the Netherlands - never topped 16%, and that's only in some of the biggest cities.
"The Netherlands has the highest level of car ownership and usage in Europe.
"So if you look at the total view: cycling will always augment personal mobility... it will never replace it.
"And the day - when it comes - that every single solitary vehicle we have is electric, they'll still have to park somewhere".
