Fare-free public transport
Topic: The best way for government to solve the problem of traffic congestion is providing free public transport in 24 hours per day, and seven days a week. To what extent do you agree/disagree?
Fare-free public transport is often assumed as the best way of reducing car use and tackle congestion problems. In my view, I consider that might not be the best measure for some reasons mentioned below.
On the one hand, free public transport program has little impact on car drivers' behavior. The behavior of motorists and the transport mode they choose depend little on public transport fares. Researchers found that when zero-fare public transports were applied, only a small number of people who previously traveled by car made the switch. Furthermore, a vast amount of passengers attracted by it tends to be cyclists and pedestrians rather than car users. This proved the ineffectiveness of the given policy and traffic congestion would stay unsolved.
At the same time, the success of the free public transport movement also has a link to the quality of the service and city infrastructure. For example, in some parts of the world, commuter lines are overcrowded in rush hour. The low or adequate quality of city infrastructure could cause traffic delays and thus would makes more inconvenient to stay in public buses for a long time rather than private cars. Beside that, the quality of many public transport can not compete to the good points of cars and other vehicles. Comfort, reliability and cleanness are the motivating factors that make cars dominant over free bus service.
In conclusion, free public transport initiative may not be effective for mitigating congestion issues on its own and combining multipronged approaches should be implemented by government to address traffic jams.
293 words
Thank you!
Holt Educational Consultant - / 15461 The essay asked you to deliver an extent or measured agreement or disagreement with the given topic. Based on your first paragraph, it appears that you disagree with the idea of government subsidized transport. However, you neglected to clearly respond to the question posed. Then upon reading the reasoning paragraphs, you used the comparative discussion for the presentation. These are the 3 main reasons why your essay does not meet the requirements for a passing score based on the prompt requirements.
The measured response (ex. I strongly, I totally, I wholly, I primarily) is the personal point of view that will establish your response to the question and also, identify the discussion slant of the essay. That is, to support only one side of the discussion, proving your assertions within 2 related, coherent, and cohesive paragraphs. The minute you used the comparative essay format, you went against the expected discussion format. When you did not indicate a measured response, you changed the prompt discussion instruction. Both errors will not only pull down you overall score, but result in the failing score of your essay.
So what is the format for this discussion? This is a 4 paragraph essay utilizing 3-5 sentences per paragraph so it should go something like this:
Par. 1: Prompt paraphrase with response: There has been some deliberation regarding having the state wholly subsidize the national transit system. The question posed is "would the total gratuity be a good move in resolving the road gridlock problem?". My response to this inquiry is this, I am in total opposition to the idea. A total free transport system is not the solution to the problem.
Par. 2: Offer a single reason to support your claim. Use your personal observation or opinion. Do not refer to research results or anything of the sort. The essay relies on your personal knowledge, observation, and experience for its discussion presentation.
Par. 3: Offer a solid example of why your reason is correct. A single reason is all that is needed because you are defending your opinion with supporting examples. You are not writing a comparative essay. The direct opinion question is never responded to as a comparative essay discussion.
Par. 4: Recap the first 3 discussion point. The topic, your opinion, and your example. Then use a closing sentence to end the essay. The last paragraph is just meant to summarize the discussion and that is all you have to do. Show that you can restate your discussion points effectively to bring the essay full circle.
Remember, read the instructions. Figure out what the discussion format should be first and write the essay in the expected format. That way you can be sure of meeting all the task and writing requirements. While you might make some grammar mistakes, if you follow the format I suggest above, your essay should reach at least a 5 band score.
