By Neil Leighton BBC News, Bristol

As anyone who drives regularly in the Bristol rush hour will attest, the life of a commuter in the city is not an easy one.

Councillors say there is no quick fix to the transport problems

Queues on the M32. Tailbacks on to the M5 at Aztec West. Congestion on the Portway. Back-ups on the Bath Road.

Whichever way you approach it, there is not a quick way in - or out - of the city. Bristol's transport system is stretched and stressed and is failing to keep up with the growth of the city.

Transport was one of the key strands of a new consultation document launched last week by the West of England Partnership - made up of the four local authorities which cover the Greater Bristol area.

The councils - Bath & North East Somerset Council (BANES), Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council - want to draw up a plan to help the area cope with population growth over the next 25 years.

It is forecast 3,700 homes will have to be built in the "sub region" each year. After 2011, this could increase to as much as 5,500.

We have to break that [the cycle] somehow to make it unattractive, unacceptable, for every individual to just drive in every day Mike Henry, a transport expert at King Sturge

Mike Henry, a transport expert at the Bristol offices of property consultants King Sturge, believes transport is one of the largest problems facing the city.

"There is increasing concern among some of the big employers in the city centre about poor public transport facilities and lack of accessibility," he said.

Mr Henry talks of an approach where measures aimed at cutting car use, such as road tolls, are used to fund a better public transport system.

"Because traffic growth is increasing and congestion is increasing. We are inexorably working towards some form of very severe congestion problem.

"We have to break that somehow to make it unattractive, unacceptable, for every individual to just drive in every day."

He suggests that this could include "superbuses", similar to those being trialled by transport group First or trams.

The Government Office for the South West is pioneering the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study.

Working with the same four councils, it has commissioned a study, due to be published in 2005.

At the launch of the latest consultation stage last week, several options were floated for public consideration.

First group is trailing high tech articulated "superbuses"

Among possible schemes is a new rapid transport scheme, similar to the Supertram project which hit the buffers earlier this year.

Other suggestions include improved local rail links, new park and rides, and priority bus routes.

The public is also being asked to comment on 12 possible new and improved road schemes, including a new Avon crossing and links to the M4 and M5.

But there is no quick fix approach, say councillors.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins, at BANES, said: "You can't just snap your fingers and solve our transport problems with one strike.

"I think it will be a series of incremental measure that will improve the transport network in our area.

"With people still choosing to use their motor cars, that pressure continues to be there."