West Yorkshire's snarled-up main roads are saturated with traffic at peak time - and there is no more space, according to a major transport plan taking the county from next year up to 2006.

The first West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan supports the Government's view that the "love affair" with the car now needs to be challenged, as rush hour grows longer and longer on the snarled-up roads.

But now an all-out drive to get people to switch to other transport means motorists will be clobbered in West Yorkshire cities and town centres with numbers of parking spaces being cut and motorists paying more for them.

Today AA spokesman Gideon Fireman said: "You can't attack motorists with a big stick without offering them a carrot. At the moment there are no practical alternatives.

"If you are going to cut parking there should first be some proof that it is going to work."

But the report adds : "The growth in rail travel has resulted in problems of over-crowding at peak times, particularly on the commuter trains to and from Leeds.

"The decline in bus travel - the dominant public transport mode - has been a major concern for some years, though this trend now appears to be reversing in some areas."

The strategy builds on the provisional local transport plan published last year and has been built up by detailed analysis of problems and opportunities.

It has been drawn up by the five West Yorkshire councils, including Bradford, and is expected to make a major impact on transport provision and usage up to the year 2006.

The final version follows 85 meetings, analysis of 2,100 responses to a brochure, use of a website and 1,500 face to face interviews.

Safe, reliable taxis are seen as a main link in a good integrated transport system and operators would be encouraged to tender for low demand public transport services. This could lead to formal arrangements for the shared use of taxis.

Safety of motorcyclists would become a priority and walking and cycling would be encouraged.

For the first time motor cycling will be actively encouraged, with more training facilities and good, secure, parking provision. The needs of the riders would be taken into account during road maintenance programmes.

Major route changes in Bradford city centre are planned as part of the proposed £200 million Broadway shopping scheme, and the plan will see the completion of the major refurbishment of the Interchange, including the ground floor concourse in about five years time.

Completion of the Aire Valley trunk road is anticipated during the life of the plan and measures would be installed on Leeds Road and Otley Road, Shipley, to reduce bus delays and improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Today Jeff Frankel, chairman of Bradford Retail Action Group, said: "You might as well put a sold sign up on Bradford as reduce parking in the city centre."

The Reverend Geoff Reid, a member of Bradford passenger transport consultative committee said: "Some imaginative things seem to be coming out of the plan. I think people are becoming convinced that traffic can't be a free for all and we have to take some hard decisions."