▶ Your Answer :
In this set of issues, both the reading passage and the speaker discuss benefits of congestion pricing. To be specific, according to the reading, the charging system has several advantages. However, the speaker contradicts this opinion for the following reasons.
To begin with, the lecturer argues that the congestion pricing's effect would be not positive in traffic accidents. To be specific, it is true that the charging system is able to decrease overall number of accidents. However, it also could cause more severe accidents with the reduction of vehicles in the road. In this sense, a government report showed that 30 % increase in vehicle speed made 2 times more severe accidents including serious injuries and death. This argument casts doubt on the reading passage's persistence that the charging system would attribute to the sharp decrease in traffic accidents.
Moreover, the speaker claims that it will be difficult for people to use public transportations when the congestion would be implimented. This is because the capacity will be exceed if more and more people used those. In this situation, people would feel discomfort, and it would be also difficult for them to catch buses. This claim refutes the reading passage's insistence that the charging system will make public transportation network more convenient.
Finally, the professor asserts that the charging system cannot have a positive impact on businesses' financial burden. The reason is that the charging system deters suburb shoppers come into cities. In this regard, a report presented that retailers in a city blamed for their lagging sales. This assertion counters the reading passage's opinion that the congestion pricing would have a positive impact on businesses within a city.
In conclusion, the speaekr challenges the explanation from the reading passage on account of the reasons stated above. |