(05 Nov 2014, 12:46 pm)AdamY wrote How do you address this without, of course, abolishing free parking and introducing congestion charges here, there and everywhere?
You've hit the nail on the head there - the simple way to discourage motoring is to make it expensive; the easiest way to encourage modal shift is to make public transport relatively cheaper.
But also, let's not forget that it's not just about pricing, In my opinion, we're just at the start of the digital boom - these days, people shop on line, and visit retail centres for a leisure time experience. We're seeing a structural change in retail that is starting to impact on the uses to which we put our town and city centres -eg., rising numbers of smaller supermarkets rather than mega, out-of town stores; growing numbers of 'service' businesses (eg., barbers, fingernail bars, etc - ie, things you can't do on-line!) in shopping centres.
If motoring costs continue to become cheaper, and footfall in towns and shopping centres continues to fall as a result of the changing marketplace, then it's only going to be external factors - such as congestion charging - that can change the balance.
We live in interesting times!