You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Present a written argument or case study to an educated reader with no specialised knowledge of the following topic:
The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000, there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on the British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.
What are your views on this issue?
You should write at least 250 words.
Model Answer 1:
Modern life is almost impossible without motorised transportation and people are to move so frequently that they always want to own cars. In fact, transportation has become one of the most important parts and parcels of our lives. As the number of population is increasing day by day, so do their demands and needs for modern transportation facilities and that is why the number of vehicles has increased rapidly all over the world. However, for the last few years, air pollution has reached an intolerable level and it is the motorised vehicles that have been creating this acute problem with other factors. Currently, almost 58 million vehicles are running alone on the roads of Britain and day by day this number will increase geometrically. In fact, the problem began with the rapid development and growth of the cities and because of the increasing demand of people and it is badly needed to control it for our own benefits.
It is true that with the development of the civilisation, the number of cars has increased on the streets and resulting air pollution, accidents, scarcity of fuels, sound pollution, and so on. But we can not avoid or cut off cars from our life overnight because life today has become hasty enough with routine work, office jobs, travelling, holiday activities, amusement etc. and without cars, it would be more troublesome. Therefore I believe that it is important to control the use of cars and to introduce an alternative form of the transportation system as well. Increasing the price of the fuel might be a solution as it will discourage people to drive cars so frequently and for those who are settling their mind to buy a new car. Cars emit Carbon dioxide, Carbon-Mono-Oxide and other harmful chemicals which are dangerous for the environment as well as for public health.
To reduce the use of cars, we can introduce some alternative transportation systems like the underground railway, city coach service, train service, subtle train etc. If the transports are easily available and comfortable, people will be encouraged to use those to reduce the cost of owning private cars. Some non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles and rickshaws can be the substitute for the motorised vehicles. Once people are aware of the effects of global warming and air pollution, they will definitely use those forms of transportations for their own betterment. Those vehicles are environment-friendly and in some countries, people have already started using bicycles instead of cars, for example, China. If we can introduce river-based cheap and user-friendly transports and try to make them favourite among people, then it will be definitely helpful for the environment. This type of river-based transportation system has been already introduced in countries like Brazil.
On the other hand, introducing a new law to regulate car ownership is also important. If there were an existing rule that any family cannot buy more than one car, the rapid increase of the car could have been controlled. Besides, the government should introduce a heavy tax on purchasing cars.
In summary, increasing use of cars and fuels is an acute problem for all of us. This problem can only be solved by introducing a new form of cheap and comfortable transports and by enforcing and introducing new strict laws. Otherwise, life in cities will become tougher with traffic jam and serious air pollution.
(Approximately549words)
(This model answer has been prepared by the site developer. However, please note that this is just one example out of many possible answers.)
Model Answer 2:
Transportation is one of the human tools of development. That is why all countries are concerned about that topic and support research and initiatives in this field. The quality of transportation of individuals and goods affects strongly on economic growth. That article focuses on individual transportation and how transportation modes have been changing trough years from 1888 to 2000.
At the end of the 19th century, there were few transport forms and all of them were simple with very slow speed except cars. Number of cars in that time period was not so high to extend that caused traffic, fuel or environmental problems. Therefore there was no motivation to invent innovative transport systems and modes.
With the passage of time from 19thcentury until now, transportation demands and needs have been greatly increased. The dramatic increase in the numbers of cars, especially in the last three or four decades, forces all states to establish bridges, tunnels, highways etc. These different kinds of infrastructures and superstructures have extremely high costs. Such costs affect the state budget and lead to undesirable cuts of education, health and other services’ share in the annual budget. As those sectors are so vital, essential and cannot be cut for the sake of the transportation sector, stakeholders started thinking about new transport planning concepts and strategies which contribute to solving all transportation-related problems.
Those problems are economical, environmental and social problems. Most of the experts in the field of ‘Urban Planning and Transportation’ admit that the decreasing number of private cars is the best effective way to solve all the previously mentioned problems. There are many ideas which can help reduce private cars in the streets like public transportation, carpooling, and encouraging bicycles as transport modes. It requires many actions and promotion to convince people to leave their own cars and use such alternative modes. These actions can be: improving public transportation, providing a discount on bicycles, giving priority to public transportation through special bus lanes and raising fuel prices etc.
In summary, the whole world should encourage alternative modes and forms of transportation to compete with the traditional mode which is private cars. That will make our mother Earth greener and a better place to live in.
(Approximately362words)
[ by – Taha]
Model Answer 3:
In today’s fast-moving world where cars play an important role, it is believed by a majority of people that transportation by private mode or private car is more convenient and simple. Whereas others differ in the opinion that public transport is the best option in many aspects. However, I believe that travelling by public vehicles is a good option for the following reasons.
First, various transport modes are there and they can carry the majority of passengers at a time which consumes the same fuel and occupy the road. Private cars which carry one person to four maximum is a way of consuming more fuel, to block more space in the road and cause traffic problems.
On the other hand, metro rail mode of transportation is simple and fast which is better than cars and buses. Loophole with this one is that it cannot cover all streets. This metro carries passengers from one station to another destination both bus and metro rails reduce the pollutions compared to the private travelling.
Otherwise, carpool is the next option for transport, but the above all they are handier when time management is considered. Certainly, alternative transports are mandatory and citizens must be aware of this concept moreover international control should be introduced to prevent private car ownership. These actions lead us to save petrol and diesel for coming generations where it cannot be manufactured
If new cars come on roads every day, it leads to traffic problem and a lot of time consumption is noticed to travel shot or near distance and hence travellers should notice and use bicycles to cover surrounding areas which burn human energy and adds health benefits.
Lastly, utilisation of personal vehicles must be controlled for daily transportation simultaneously passengers should look after the public mode of travelling.
(Approximately291words)
[ by – Samuel Edward]
Model Answer 4:
In the UK, the number of cars per household has increased alarmingly in the last few decades and this is primarily due to the lower cost of automobiles today. This topic is of particular interest because car use is harmful to the environment. This essay will offer suggestions on how to decrease the cars on British roads.
To begin with, in order to cut down the number of cars on the street, one suggestion is to enhance the use of different kinds of public transports. By this I mean that it is a widely known fact that cars burn fossil fuel, which is extremely harmful to the environment, and by introducing an environmentally friendly vehicle, which must be cheap and convenient in order to encourage citizens to use them, the planet can be saved. For instance, the electric tram has been used in most places in the UK to decrease the number of private cars and many people choose to travel to their work using the tram because the price is reasonable and the time is perfect. Hence, it can be seen that by encouraging the use of alternative transport the problem of an increasing number of cars might be resolved.
Another suggestion is to introduce a worldwide law to command car owners. In the last decade, the price of cars has decreased dramatically, and this helps people to buy cars easily. By imposing a law to increase the price per car, for example, this might help to reduce the number of cars seeing on British roads indeed.
To conclude, this essay has looked at some suggestions to tackle the problem of rising car number in the UK. Perhaps, finding another type of transportation and introducing a strong law to control car numbers are the correct actions.
(Approximately287words)
[ by – Lubna Makawi]