IELTS Writing task 2: Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged to control car ownership

The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads.
Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Ever since cars were invented in late 19th century, they have become a popular way of transportation. With the number of cars owned growing rapidly, I strongly believe that the use of other methods to transport should be promoted and new stricter ownership laws should be passed internationally.

Firstly, automobiles have been consuming huge amounts of fuel for the past decades producing smoke that pollutes the air everyone breaths. Regarding that governments should ban cars that consume a lot of petrol as well as restricting the buying of new cars apart from the ones which work on solar or electrical energy. Governments ought also raise the taxes for car owners to force people to switch to more environmentally friendly forms of travel. Bikes for example are a great alternative.

Secondly, it has been proven that cities with neat networks of bus lines, trams and underground metros have less cars on roads than other cities with poorly designed or managed public transportation. Decently priced ticket fares attract far more people to shift to mass transit. A country like Canada has succeeded to double the figures of people using railways to commute since they reduce the price of annual passes by 25 percent.

In conclusion. Cars are releasing toxic substances when burning petrol and to help making our planet less polluted we with the help of our governments need to drop the number of cars used today and stop using fuel consuming cars. Bicycles and rapid transit should be given more international attention.

Any advice would be appreciated !

Hi! I have some suggestions for you:

"have fewer cars on roads"
"... burning petrol, and thus, to help make our planet less polluted"
"... the air everyone breathes"

Hello!
You have some good thoughts with your essay. Here are a few small suggestions I have for you.

I think your essay would be a little better if you can include all the detrimental effects of increasing vehicles on roads. In your essay, the only problem highlighted is air pollution. If you add a few more things to support your perspective, that will better highlight why we need alternate modes of transport.

Examples include- Air pollution, traffic congestion, noise pollution, finite nature of fossil fuels, global warming, etc and how these negatively impact human health and irrevocably damage the environment.

After highlighting the problem with cars, move on to alternate solutions - Public transport, cycling or walking for short distances ( improves health by reducing obesity), solar or electric powered vehicles, increasing taxes with more than one vehicle per household, etc.

This will make it a well balanced essay.
The facts that you have given about better planning of cities and added an example of how Canada as a country tackled it's problem is very good.

If you have any further queries, don't hesitate to ask.
Good Luck! :)