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?

Band 7.0 – 7.5

Main ideas

Paragraph 1 (Introduction)

• Traffic in cities worldwide has become a serious problem.
• The main causes are the high number of vehicles and daily commuting for work, study, and shopping.
• This problem is especially visible during rush hours.

Paragraph 2 (First body paragraph)

• Daily commuting is no longer always necessary.
• Thanks to Information Technology, people can work, study, and shop from home.
• Examples include online work, distance learning, and online shopping.

Paragraph 3 (Second body paragraph – Counter-argument)

• Even if technology is available, not everyone wants to work from home.
• Working from home reduces freedom of choice and social interaction.
• This lack of social contact could negatively affect society.

Paragraph 4 (Conclusion & Solution)

• Working from home may reduce traffic, but it is not a realistic or acceptable solution.
• A better solution is improving public transport.
• Limiting private cars and developing non-road transport (sky trains, subways) would be more effective.

• Introduction: It is certainly true that today traffic in cities throughout the world has become a major problem. This is obvious from the number of vehicles on our roads and the amount of pollution they cause. Probably the traffic problem is due to individuals travelling for work, study or shopping purposes and this is evident in the rush hours we experience every morning and evening.

• Body Paragraph 1: It is also true that today such daily commuting is not always necessary because people can do these things from home, we can see this in the options Information Technology gives us today. For instance, on-line work, distance learning and shopping facilities are all available via the internet.

• Body Paragraph 2: However, even if everyone had access to the technology and the opportunity to work from home, it is unrealistic to think that everyone would want to. Even though the technology for working, studying or shopping on-line makes this option a possibility, it would mean people had less freedom of choice and less social contact in their lives. This would have a large impact on society as a whole.

• Conclusion: So, in conclusion, I think that while this practice could reduce the traffic problems in our cities, it is most unlikely to be an acceptable solution. In terms of other solutions, perhaps we need to think more carefully about facilitating public transport and limiting private cars in our city centers. The development of public transport that is not road-based, such as sky trains or subways would probably be a more acceptable alternative measure to reduce jams on our roads.