Band 7+: Car ownership has increased so rapidly over the past thirty years that in many cities around the world there are constant traffic jams. How true do you think this statement is? What measures can governments take to discourage people from owning cars?

In the last three decades, the number of private vehicles has increased considerably that in many urban areas across the world there is continuous traffic congestion. While there are some arguments such as overpopulation and technological improvement that oppose this idea, I believe that most of the traffic jams stem from increased transport ownership.

Admittedly, in recent years, income levels have risen which makes cars more affordable for almost all people in spite of their status. People who have better income started even purchasing cars more than one which leads to growth in the number of overall vehicles. Furthermore, poor infrastructure of most of the big cities is a contributing factor of this issue. Because inadequate planning of urban zones such as narrow roads often enables vehicles, especially private cars to get stuck in there. A case in point can be Tashkent, a capital city of Uzbekistan where traffic congestion is common, particularly in rush hours because of a growing number of private vehicles.

With that said, this issue can be tackled by two effective strategies by the national governments. Chief among them is to encourage people to make use of public transport more. If government bodies provide people with buses, metro, trams which are affordable and more convenient, people are more likely to use them. As a result, the number of vehicles decrease which might lead to move freely on the roads. For example, in Copenhagen where people were encouraged to employ public transport system, the risk of getting stuck in traffics is quite low. Another solution can be to improve urban planning. If construction of primary roads plans wisely, along with expanding roads and addition of separate paths for bikers and pedestrians, vehicles as well as bikers and people take advantage of it. Oslo, as a striking example, is one of the well-planned cities over the Europe where the problem of traffic congestion is almost none.

In conclusion, although an increasing number of private cars have led to serious traffic jams in many urban areas, this issue can be addressed by encouraging more people to use public transportation and planning cities cleverly.