IELTS TASK 2: road infrastructure costs

As the number of cars increases, more money has to be spent on road systems. Some people think the government should pay for the this. Others, however, think that drivers should cover the costs. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Owing to the increasing use of vehicles, the construction of better traffic infrastructure has become more and more vital. Many are of the opinion that it is the authorities’ duty to provide the budget for this, but some hold the sentiment that vehicle users should be the ones to fund projects towards this aim. Personally, I am in agreement with the former.

On the one hand, there are various reasons why drivers should subsidize road projects. To begin with, governments will not need to allocate more resources towards bettering road systems if road users have already done it for them. The extra money will then be invested into other causes such as improving the transport system or constructing green public places, all of which can help alleviate air pollution. This means that authorities will be able to focus more of their resources on other aspects of urban life, thereby raising the overall living standard of city dwellers. Another principal reason why car commuters should be responsible for the costs is their overuse of roads. In reality, it has been estimated in numerous places that the number of private automobiles makes up the majority of the total vehicle commuting on roads. The corollary of this is that the expansion and enhancement of current road systems are to mainly facilitate a more comfortable experience for car users. Therefore, it stands to reason that car owners should be liable to cover the costs of road maintenance and improvement.

On the other hand, although delegating the costs to drivers may bring about several benefits, the sole responsibility should be laid on the government to sponsor road extension endeavors. First and foremost, in some countries, drivers are charged exorbitant sums of money in taxes in order to own a car and travel with it. This leads to them being incapable of affording road upgrade services. For instance, People living in Vietnam are obliged to pay almost twice as much to own a car compared to other countries like Singapore or Canada since car purchase taxes and fees account for a sizeable portion of the prices. This is especially true for imported auto vehicles whose tax rate may be worth more than half of the initial cost. Therefore, it might be better to use the revenue generated from these taxes for road infrastructure investments rather than compelling citizens to finance it. Secondly, road infrastructure construction and improvement entail spending a stupendous amount of money, which is beyond the citizen’s capability. The government is the only one able to incur such tremendous costs by devoting some of the tax’s revenue towards road building. In fact, the price for expanding new roads is so large that numerous motorways are erected solely thanks to international loans, which require the commitment and management of the state.

To conclude, although the argument in favor of road infrastructure costs belonging to car owners might be convincing to some extent, I still firmly believe that the government should be the one to take full responsibility for this.