Speaking Test – Part 1 – Traffic problems
Topic – Traffic where you live :
Q. How do most people travel to work where you live?
Answer: I live in Hyderabad where most people travel to work by bus since it is, by far, the cheapest transportation mode in India. Most people travel to and from work by public buses, private cars, motorcycles or three-wheeler vehicles because these transportations are not only easily available but also reasonably affordable. Some people also use trains to reach their office while a few people prefer to use bicycles for that.
In my city, most of the office-goers take either the public bus or the metro rail to travel to and from their workplace. Some affluent executives have their own cars and chauffeurs and they use their private cars to commute.
Q. What traffic problems are there in your area? [Why is that?]
Answer: I live in of the largest and busiest metropolitan cities in my country with a huge population. With the rapid growth of population, urbanization and transportation, traffic problems in the area, where I live, has become a real cause for concerns because vehicles run at a snail’s pace not only during the peak hours but also during the “off-peak” hours sometimes. The number of private cars is increasing rapidly while some people do not abide by the traffic rules to make the situation worse. These traffic problems are not only causing us to lose very valuable ‘working hours’ but also causing extra fuel consumption and air pollution in an otherwise clean city of Hyderabad.
The roads in my city are congested and busy during the office hours and the increasing use of private cars by the rich makes is worse. Some people do not follow the traffic rules and increase the misery of all commuters. I believe, all the roads in our city should be transformed into four-lane roads and more people should ride bicycles than driving cars.
Q. How do traffic problems affect you?
Answer: Traffic problems affect a person both mentally and physically. Because of the traffic problems, I actually have to get ready well ahead of my regular travel itineraries in order to allow myself enough time to reach my workplace. Then, by the time I reach my office, I am already tired because of “struggling” extra time on the roads. Besides, when I can’t reach home after work on time, because of the huge traffic problems again, sometimes, I just don’t have enough time to relax in the company of my loved ones. Then of course, because of spending too much time on the road makes me feel way more tired than what I am supposed to be.
Every day I travel about 25 kilometres to reach my office and then take the same route to get back home. The unbearable traffic jam kills more than 2 hours of my personal time a day. Without any traffic congestion, it should take me only 35 minutes to reach the office, but it often takes me more than one and a half hour. I could have better utilised the time with my family or friends. Bad traffic on the road often bores me and after I reach home, I feel tired on such a day.
Q. How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area?
Answer: First, I would try to reduce the number of private cars and vehicles and increase the number of public transportation to ease the traffic problems in my area. Secondly, I would encourage using bicycles more and more since improvements and construction of the bicycle infrastructure, and the introduction of the urban bicycling program is already underway. Finally, new roads and streets should be built with a better plan in order to connect different parts of the city since we already have enough empty space to be used for building new road infrastructures.
I would increase the number of public buses and enhance their facilities so that more people take buses instead of driving their own cars. Apart from that, I would enhance the roads and engage more traffic police so that traffic rule violators are detected and brought to justice. Finally, I would increase the number of metro rails in the city and offer some incentives for the office-goers who would use bicycles.
Part 3: Details Discussion.
1. Has the traffic in your area become more congested over the last couple of years? Why?/ Why not?
Answer: Yes, the traffic in my area has become more congested over the last few years due to the fact that more and more vehicles are being driven on the streets. The area is more traffic-congested also because a large number of unreliable transports, both public and private, dominating many of the area’s main streets. Besides, people in my area these days have become too lazy to walk little distance, which means they park their vehicles here and there in the streets and thus creating unnecessary traffic congestion in the area.
2. Do you think the authority has done enough to tackle the problem? Why? /Why not?
Answer: No, I don’t think that the authority has done enough to tackle the traffic problem in my area because they haven’t taken any visible initiatives to encourage people to use transportation less and walk more. Besides, the authority hasn’t done anything yet to fix the fitness issue of many unreliable and slow vehicles which are being driven on the streets. No tangible steps to widen the major roads and streets have been taken either to accommodate the additional vehicles that are entering our area almost every day. Finally, the authority hasn’t taken any concrete steps to create employment opportunities outside of our city limit in order to discourage people from moving into our area to look for jobs.
3. Has there been any improvement in the transport in your area in recent years?
Answer: Yes, there have been some improvements in the transport in my area in recent years. For example, new public buses with air condition system have been rolled onto the streets to offer the daily commuters some level of comfort, especially, during the hot summer times. Besides, some dangerous roads with flawed turns have been fixed to minimize the possibility of road accidents. Finally, a significant number of lights has been added to illuminate some roads and streets in my areas which otherwise used to remain dark at night. But, while these are some of the good things, nothing visible has been done yet to solve the problem of traffic congestion.
4. Some countries impose higher taxes on car ownership and increase fuel price to tackle the traffic jam. How is the scenario in your country?
Answer: Just like these countries, my country has also imposed higher taxes on car ownership and increased the fuel prices in order to deal with the bad traffic problem in our roads and streets, but that doesn’t seem to have worked. In fact, day by day, the number of cars only keeps increasing, probably because the general income level of people has increased. Besides, people in my country, these days, are looking for comfort and luxury on the roads, even if it means to spend a fortune, and that’s why they don’t mind spending a lot of money in buying private cars, no matter how expensive they are.
5. Was any change introduced in traffic laws in your country?
Answer: Just like any other country in the world, my country also has some existing traffic laws. But, recently, a few new traffic laws have been introduced in my country in order to prevent people from getting hurt and keep things moving along smoothly in the roads. For example, penalising people for riding in a car without fastening seat belt and issuing traffic tickets to those who text on the mobile phone and drive at the same time. Apart from these two laws, another new traffic law has been introduced that tells drivers to slow down their cars when entering the school zones.
6. Was any change introduced in traffic laws in your country?
Answer: No. Unfortunately, the traffic scenario in my area is actually worse in many cases than the rest of the country as I live in one of the largest metropolitan cities of my country, which is already very much crowded with a lot of population and vehicles. On top of that, a significant number of people enter my area from outside of my town in their vehicles on a daily basis in order to take care of their business. As a result of these extra vehicles, the roads and streets in my city become even more jammed with these extra traffics.
