In recent years the sales figures of private vehicles have increased exponentially, and one such widely used private mode of transport is car. This happened to have an impact in the overall traffic of major cities around the world.
Firstly the major reason why people are buying cars over using public transport is for their own comfort. Although public transport is much cheaper than owning a car, most of them want to travel in a safe and hygienic environment. For instance a major city like Bangalore which is highly populated with Multi National Companies (MNC) is going through the same problem. It is also noticed that the peak traffic hours are during the morning and evening time. This is mainly caused by the people having a 9 to 5 job who chose to commute in their own vehicle.
Some recent studies have also shown that in most of the highly populated cities the air quality index is affected so much because of the increased amount of motor vehicles releasing carbon monoxide in the air we breathe, making it poisonous. This will have an adverse effect on future generation. Covid-19 also played an important role in boosting the sale of cars, it started once the life was getting back to normal and people wanted to travel safely.
I believe the only method to see a decrease in traffic can be achieved by the use of public transport. In my opinion this is where the government should take a step in to make public transport in the country safer and cleaner. Providing more facilities and a touch of luxury can attract a larger number of people. Increasing the number of buses and trams with more stops in between can also be a way to see a drastic change in the traffic pattern. Additionally, another method can be increasing the tax on new vehicles which makes people to think twice before they buy one. Thus, this would lead the public to use public transport more. However, all these ideas are theoreitical and the real results can be understood once they are implemented.
To conclude, adopting and implementing some of the measures discussed can encourage people to reduce their use of cars to some extent.