One of the most serious issues facing the majority of large urban areas is traffic jams.
The main reason for this is that there are too many private cars on the roads these days and a viable solution is to introduce more park-and-ride schemes. The number of people owning cars increases year on year, with most families now having more than one car. Most people like the convenience of travelling at the time they want to rather than being restricted to public transport timetables, so they prefer to drive themselves around rather than taking the bus or train. This is despite the fact that they frequently have to sit in long traffic queues as they near the city centre. Whenever I have to attend a meeting in the city, I always drive because it means that I can leave home when I want to rather than getting stressed about getting to the station in time to catch the train.
A solution that is proving successful in many areas is park-and-ride schemes. This is where you park your car for free in a large car park on the outskirts of the city and take a bus for the final part of your journey. The fee you have to pay for the bus trip is usually very small and this public transport system is generally very regular, running every ten minutes or so. A survey carried out in the city of Exeter showed that the rush hour congestion decreased by 10% when the council set up a park-and-ride scheme to the north of the city. There was an additional drop of another 10% in traffic volume when a second scheme began operating to the south.
To conclude, the major urban problem of traffic congestion caused by the excessive number of private cars on city roads can be partly alleviated by the introduction of park- and-ride systems on city fringes. I would certainly use one if it was introduced in my area.