In modern cities, traffic has become a huge problem and some people believe that private automobile owners should be heavily taxed by the government, and that money should be invested in improving public transportation. In this essay we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this possible solution.
Some of the advantages of this proposal are the act of reducing the cause of the problem while offering a solution and the reduction of contamination. If we only tax the vehicles it just becomes harder for the drivers to get to their destination but if we use the amount collected to improve public transportation we are offering the drivers an alternative. By having a big tax on cars it reduces the number of vehicles in circulation, that way not only reduces the traffic but also the amount of fumes that those vehicles expel to the atmosphere.
And while this proposal had some advantages it also comes with some disadvantages like who will be more affected by it and the time needed to improve public transportation. If we tax all the private car owners equally the ones that will suffer the most will be those drivers with low income that need their car to work, making their lives even harder. Improving public transportation takes time and in the meanwhile the people affected by the tax will not have an effective alternative to their means of transportation. For example, digging a tunnel for an underground train might take years.
In conclusion, taxing the private vehicle owners to improve public transportation might be a solution to reduce traffic and contamination but we should check who are we taxing and think alternatives to their cars that don’t take years to complete.