The Best Way To Solve The Traffic Congestion In City Is To Provide Free Public Transport For 24 Hours A Day | Band 9 IELTS Essay Sample

The best way to solve the traffic congestion in city is to provide free public transport for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Here is a band 9 essay sample on this topic? Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, reports and letters corrected by me.

Band 9 IELTS essay sample

Nowadays, heavy traffic congestion has become a challenging problem in many cities. Some people argue that free public transport service should be provided to tackle this problem. In my opinion, free public transport is certainly a great idea, but it is not viable way to ease traffic congestion.

It is true that round the clock free public transport can reduce the occurrence of traffic congestion because in most cases traffic issues are caused by the presence of a large number of private vehicles on the road. If public transport services are provided free of cost and their frequency is increased, few people will want to drive their personal vehicles. This will theoretically reduce the number of cars on the roads and ease traffic congestion.

On the flip side, when there are too many takers for the free public transport, buses and trains will become overcrowded. This will make the journey uncomfortable and many people will have to stand all the way. As a result, affluent commuters will choose not to use public transport. Instead, they will drive their own car to work and the traffic situation will get worse again. Another disadvantage of providing free public transport is that it is a huge burden on the government and as such it is not a viable idea in the long term.

Personally I feel that instead of proving free public transport, the government should try to improve the frequency and reliability of buses and trains. It should also build wider roads and more flyovers. If people can ride comfortably on a bus or a train and still reach their destination on time, they will definitely consider that option. Hence, instead of making public transport a free service, what the government needs to do is to improve it. In addition, the government needs to ensure that the cost of traveling by a bus or train is always less than the cost of driving one’s own vehicle.

To conclude, free public transport might seem to be a great way to tackle traffic congestion, but in my opinion, it is not a practical solution to this problem. A better option is to enhance the quality of public transport and subsidise its cost.

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Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.

4 Responses

  1. Sarbjeet Singh says:

    Traffic congestion is becoming a pressing problem in all metropolitan cities throughout the world. Some believe that the problem can be mitigated by providing free transportation services to the public round the clock. I disagree with this view as it will drain the wealth of a nation and public transport will get a lot of pressure.

    Having free transportation service for everyone would put a tremendous amount of financial strain on a country. The governments would have no income from transportation fares, and, they would completely depend on the state funds for employees wages and the maintenance of public transport. This compels the government to take funds from other sectors such as medical, education and research. Consequently, it would adversely effect the economy of the nation. Hence, this would not be a financially viable solution.

    Another reason to consider is that offering free transportation to people would put a heavy load on public transport system. Rather than travelling with private vehicles, people would prefer to use free transport even for small distances.When more public rely on government transportation, it will make the people’s journey uncomfortable and unreliable.For instance, the Punjab government offers free bus service to Shri Amritsar Sahib on the occasion of diwali from serveral places, as result, most people choose to travel in these days and it put huge burden Punjab Road Transportation Services. Thus, it is not a good idea in long-run.

    In conclusion, In my opinion, offering free transportation services to public in order to reduce traffic jams from city center is not effective soltion because it will adversely effect the government finance system and put immense load on public transport.

  2. Manish Gupta says:

    Traffic congestion nowadays has become a grave concern for most of the countries. It is widely believed that this issue can be tackled effectively by introducing free public transport service round the clock. Though it may be one of the best available solutions, the authorities will have to endure a massive additional financial burden. I believe that there are other proven ways to slove this crisis.

    The free public transport service, undoubtedly, may have desired outcomes to reduce traffic chaos in the city. The people will be encouraged to use public transport significantly owing to two apparent advantages. One clear benefit is that people can save money immensely since it is a free service. It means that a large number of people, particularly middle-class families, will opt for the public transport to commuting,for the reason of having the financial incentives. More importantly, it is available round the clock and 7 days a week, means people do not need to worry about the availability of transport in odd hours. However, providing free public transport can exuberantly increase the government expenses which otherwise can be used in enhancing other basic amenities.

    There may be other alternatives to resolve the issue of traffic congestion on the roads. Firstly, the authorities can ease the policy norms for the carpooling so that people can be motivated to share the private transport. In this way,it will be beneficial not only for the people who can minimize their travel expenses, but also for protecting the environment by reducing the carbon emission. Besides the carpooling, restricting car registration per year can be efficacious to decongest the roads. Singapore, for example, has implemented this policy for the past several years and successfully managed to curb the increased private vehicles in the city. Seen in this light, it is clear that there are other potent alternatives to handle the traffic issues.

    In conclusion, having free public transport service may address the traffic issues up to a certain extent; however, it may cause a severe financial burden on the authorities. I believe that carpooling and limited car registration can be effective to deal with such a critical issue, while public money can be spent sophisticatedly in augmenting the primary infrastructure.

    • ielts practice says:

      This seems to be in the band 6.5 to 7 range. By simply writing shorter and less complicated sentences, you will be able to get 7 or higher.

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