Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree? What other measures do you think might be effective?

There is no doubt that

and

from vehicles have become huge problems, both in cities and on motorways everywhere. Solving these problems is likely to need more than a simple rise in the price of petrol.

While it is undeniable that private car

is one of the main causes of the increase in

and

, higher fuel costs are unlikely to limit the number of drivers for long. As

policy would

affect the cost of public transport, it would be very unpopular with everyone who needs to travel on the roads. But there are various other measures that could be implemented that would have a huge effect on these problems.

I think to tackle the problem of

, cleaner fuels

to be developed. The technology is already available to produce electric cars that would be both quieter and cleaner to

. Persuading manufacturers and travellers to adopt

new technology would be a more effective strategy for improving air quality, especially in cities.

,

congestion will not be solved by changing the type of private vehicle people can

. To do

, we need to improve the choice of public transport services available to travellers.

, if sufficient sky trains and underground train systems were built and effectively maintained in our major cities,

on the roads would be dramatically reduced. Long—distance train and coach services should be made attractive and affordable alternatives to driving your own car for long journeys.

In conclusion, I think that long-term

and

reductions would depend on educating the public to

public transport more, and on governments using public money to construct and run efficient systems.