People should not pay for public transportation?

[SallyChen]

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should not pay for public transportation.

The significance of public transportation to every citizen can never be exaggerated. We depend on a safe, comfortable, and highly efficient public transportation system to keep ourselves at the pace of the modern life. Due to their relience on public transportation, some people argue that its should be free to all the citizens in order to reduce their economic burden. However, I maintain that people should pay for it for both the personal benefits and overall welfare of the society.

To start with, the construction and maintanence of the public transportation require a high fee, which is not possible to be paid completely by the goverment through its subsidies. Just consider all the complex and essential parts needed on a single subway line to ensure that it fuctions well - official workers, equipments and facilities for control and safety, all of those need to be supported financially. If we are to have and continuing to have an efficient, safe and comfortable journey on the subway lines, we should first undertake our responsibility - assisting in our government’s job and reduce part of its financial burden by paying fees for the subways.

In addition, public transportation is a kind of public product from which almost everybody benefits. In a socity that is rapidly advancing “on the wheel”, few of us can live a day without taking a bus, driving on public roads to get to work. Further, some people in particular professions are especially dependent on transportational tools. A businessman working for a multi-national may spend three days per week “in the air” to trade with other companies overseas, whose progresses will be severely hindered or interfered without a well-equipped and well-maintained airport. A farmer needs his fresh and solid butter to be delivered as soon as possible from his rural farm to the city area. However, if accidents occur on the worn-out highroad that links his farm and customers, he may suffer a great loss. Given that no one can be an exception in enjoying those benefits brough about by public transportation, isn’t it right that everyone pay for the good service we have acquired from it?

At last, paying some fees for public transportation is in no way unacceptable as long as the price is reasonable. We should not deny that some citizens, especially those whose living level is already below the city’s average, may feel that their financial burden will be aggravated by paying for the public transport. Nevertheless, this is a minor problem that can be overcome by thorough pondering and investigations by researchers on govermental policy area to make sure that the price is acceptable to every citizen. Besides, government can regulate the society positively by the adoption of some financial policies such as to let the rich people “pay” more for the public transport. Specifically, to levy more public transportation taxes from the rich. When rich people pays more for public welfare on one hand and poor people enjoy the same benefits as everyone on the other, the polarization of the social wealth can be diminished and the social equity will be better guaranteed.

To put all in a nutshell, people should pay for the public transportation to contribute to the establishment of a prosperous, developed and more balanced modern society.

TOEFL listening lectures: A university lecture by a professor of Art History

[Kitosdad]

[SallyChen]

Thank you, Kitos.

[Luziyi]

Haha, dearest Sally, I admire your writing ability

[Luziyi]

In fact, the Office Word can help you a little I think(*^__^*)

[SallyChen]

Thx~ I'm flattered. ^ ^
But, you know, Office Word will be of no help in a real test, so...I'd rather pay more attention everytime myself when practicing. Although it seems that there are always some lucky little fish escaping from the net, everytime! (If you know what I mean :P )