In this era of rapid social and technological changes, it is controversial whether government should charge fees to private automobile drivers who use their vehicles during rush hours. As many of us have an experience of being late for work because of traffic congestion, we all would agree on the idea that governments should propose a sound policy that can solve or at least mitigate this problem. As for me, among many possible solutions, I consider that making drivers to pay extra money during rush hours is the most effective one.
To begin with, people react at their quickest pace when it comes to money issue. This is because money undoubtedly happens to be one of the most valuable commodities, and also people simply want to save their expense as much as possible. For example, in my country, water system once used to be free. It was mainly possible because country's supply of water could meet the demand of population. However, since the population began to grow as much as twice than in twenty years ago, the whole country suffered from a shortage of water. The government attempted to solve the problem by employing various regulations and policies, but turned down as the vast majority of citizens did not seem to understand the seriousness of this phenomenon. Eventually, the government set up financial regulation to use of water. As a result of that, people's excessive consumption of water finally began to decrease and the country became to be able to retain sufficient water supplies. In this respect, if governments want the issue, traffic congestion during rush hours, to be solved, they should seriously consider using financial regulation for that; when people lose their valuable possesions, they stopped doing anything.
In addition, it allows governments to develop and improve public transportation systems. In fact, it is very difficult for governemnts to offer better services in public transportation systems within their tight budget. However, only if they collect money from private drivers during rush hours, they can use those money to improve the condition of the systems. For example, they can run more buses and subways during rush hours so that people do not have to wait long and travel uncomfortably. These sound offers will attract more people to use public transportaions, thus, it may reduce the traffic congestion.
In conclusion, there are reasons for and against the policy of charging fees on private automobile users during rush hours. However, the arguments for hold a lot more water when we consider the factors such as people's respond to the regulations is superior when they become financially responsible, and also governments can use the money to develop public transportation infrastructure which can fix the root of traffic congestion by encouraging people to use subways or buses instead of their own cars. |