Student Essay - Cha Min Gyu, Year 11, Sayfol International School - The only way to reduce the amount of traffic in cities today is by reducing the need for people to travel

Cha Min Gyu, Year 11, Sayfol International School

The only way to reduce the amount of traffic in cities today is by reducing the need for people to travel from home for work, education or shopping. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

In some developed countries, people think that if a man or a woman doesn’t have a car, they are strange and poor. However, just half a century ago, there were very few cars. As time passed, the number of cars has skyrocketed. As such, we are now experiencing traffic problems in many parts of the world. Some governments try to combat this problem by reducing the need for people to travel. I think that this strategy is only partially effective.

Firstly, reducing the need for people to travel can be somewhat effective in reducing traffic.  If people work from home, they can definitely reduce the rush hour traffic. They can use Skype or email or other applications to communicate with colleagues. Moreover, if students do not need to go to school every day, traffic problems will be alleviated. Nowadays, there are many educational programmes on television and the internet. With a computer, students can do most of their learning from YouTube and other educational sites. Additionally, people can do most of their shopping online now. This would decrease traffic too. Therefore, reducing the need for people to travel will reduce traffic.

However, there are limitations to these methods of reducing traffic. Firstly, not all work can be done through the computer. Work such as building, hairdressing, cooking and so on still requires travelling. Moreover, students cannot learn everything from the media. They need to conduct experiments and make friends. Furthermore, online shopping is not ideal because we cannot check the quality of the goods before buying them. Thus, reducing traffic by using these methods is problematic.

There are many other ways to solve traffic problems. The government can encourage people to use public transport by improving public transportation and making it cheaper. Companies can provide free transport for their workers. Besides, the government can increase the prices of fuel, car and parking. In addition, cycling lanes and pedestrian pavements should be built to encourage cycling and walking. All these ways are as effective as reducing the need for people to travel.

In conclusion, if we reduce the need for people to travel for work, education or shopping, we can only reduce the quantity of traffic by a small amount. There are many other ways to solve this problem.