TOEFL® essay: Should governments spend more money on improving roads and highways

[Dwdimov]

Should governments spend more money on improving roads and highways , or should governments spend more money on improving public transportation(buses, trains, subways) ? Why ? Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay.

Some governments spend more money on improving roads and highways; others spend more money on improving public transportation. In this essay I’ll give some of the advantages of each approach, and I’ll argue in favor of improving roads and highways.

In a society where independence is valued many people prefer to use their own cars than public transportation. Automobiles provide more comfortable travelling. Also, they are in most cases – fastest than other types of transportation. I’ll restrict my view on one very important advantage of automobiles. They provide freedom to the drivers. For example if my work start in 8.00 AM I have two possibilities. First, I may use my automobile. In this case I must leave for the work in 7.30 AM. On the other hand, If I use public transportation I must take a bus in 7.00 AM because I must wait some minutes at the bus station. After that, the buss will stop at every bus station. By reasons of this, buses are slower than automobiles. In the end, I must walk 5 minutes from bus station to my work position. If I use car, I’ll park it near my work position. In this case I’ll lose only one minute for walking.

However, in big cities it is very hard to park your car. There are many traffic jams. Therefore, public transportation in these cities is more appropriate transport. For example, I will point New York City. Last summer I visited it. Then, I took a taxicab from bus station to the port, which is close to the Statue of Liberty. In this way I spent 30 minutes and 20 dollars. On the way back I took subway and I spent 15 minutes and 5 dollars. I think that this instance show that in big cities like New York, public transportation is more fastest and cheapest way than automobile transportation.

In conclusion I think that whether government should spend more money on improving public transportation or on improving high ways depend on every different country. However I think that cars provides independence. Therefore I prefer to use cars. But in many cases they are not appropriate transportation.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between two university students who met on campus