[originaltext]In Britain, anyone who is physically and mentally fit and over th

In Britain, anyone who is physically and mentally fit and over the age of seventeen can apply for a driving licence. A learner driver is issued with a provisional licence and then gets a full licence when he has passed the driving test.
Car ownership is increasing fast and there is increasing jamming on the roads which no amount of new road and motorway building can entirely solve. The problem in the center of cities is becoming increasingly serious for not only are there problems of keeping the traffic flowing, but there is the added problem of parking, while space for new roads and parking places is not easy to find in built-up city centers. It is becoming obvious that private cars are going to have to be excluded from many central areas and people will have to use the various forms of public transport. Facilities for pedestrians are gradually being improved and many towns and cities now have streets for shopping which are used only by people on foot.
Nationally, however, there are still great problems, especially for people who don’t have cars, either because they can’t afford them or because they are too old or too young. Train services are decreasing and the bus services are also becoming fewer and fewer, and both stop running quite early, making it difficult to travel at night. People in rural areas and small towns are becoming increasingly isolated, and there is now a strong case for reintroducing new bus services, perhaps supported financially by the government as a social service.