Advantages Of Public Transport — IELTS Reading Answers

Paragraph A

“However, local pressure groups forced a referendum over whether to spend the money on light rail instead. The rail proposal won and the railway worked spectacularly well”

Paragraph A recounts Portland's referendum, where residents chose light rail over a road and 'the railway worked spectacularly well' — heading ii.

Paragraph B

“In the UK, travel times to work had been stable for at least six centuries, with people avoiding situations that required them to spend more than half an hour travelling to work. Trains and cars initially allowed people to live at greater distances without taking longer to reach their destination.”

Paragraph B traces commuting times from centuries of stability to congestion, because infrastructure 'did not keep pace with urban sprawl' — heading vii.

Paragraph C

“There is a widespread belief that increasing wealth encourages people to live farther out where cars are the only viable transport. The example of European cities refutes that. They are often wealthier than their American counterparts but have not generated the same level of car use.”

Paragraph C challenges the belief that wealth forces car use, citing European cities where car use fell as they grew wealthier — heading iv.

Paragraph D

“It found that pushing everyone into the city centre was not the best approach. Instead, the proposal advocated the creation of urban villages at hundreds of sites, mostly around railway stations”

Paragraph D rejects pushing everyone into the centre, advocating instead 'urban villages' around railway stations — heading i.

Paragraph E

“The explanation for this seems to be that it is valuable to place people working in related fields together. 'The new world will largely depend on human creativity, and creativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face.'”

Paragraph E explains that related workers are grouped together because 'creativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face' — heading iii.

The ISTP study examined public and private systems in every city of the world.

“The study compared the proportion of wealth poured into transport by thirty-seven cities around the world”

The study compared 'thirty-seven cities around the world', not every city, so the claim of universal coverage is contradicted.

Efficient cities can improve the quality of life for their inhabitants.

“Professor Peter Newman, ISTP Director, pointed out that these more efficient cities were able to put the difference into attracting industry and jobs or creating a better place to live”

Efficient cities could spend the savings on 'attracting industry and jobs or creating a better place to live', improving inhabitants' quality of life.

An inner-city tram network is dangerous for car drivers.

“Melbourne's large tram network has made car use in the inner city much lower, but the outer suburbs have the same car-based structure as most other Australian cities”

The passage says Melbourne's trams lowered inner-city car use but never mentions danger to car drivers.

In Melbourne, people prefer to live in the outer suburbs.

“The explosion in demand for accommodation in the inner suburbs of Melbourne suggests a recent change in many people's preferences as to where they live”

The 'explosion in demand for accommodation in the inner suburbs' shows a recent preference for inner-city living, not the outer suburbs.

Cities with high levels of bicycle usage can be efficient even when public transport is only averagely good.

“Bicycle use was not included in the study but Newman noted that the two most 'bicycle friendly' cities considered – Amsterdam and Copenhagen – were very efficient, even though their public transport systems were 'reasonable but not special'”

Amsterdam and Copenhagen were 'very efficient' despite public transport that was 'reasonable but not special', supporting the bicycle claim.

Perth

“The study found that the Western Australian city of Perth is a good example of a city with minimal public transport. As a result, 17% of its wealth went into transport costs”

Perth has 'minimal public transport', and consequently 17% of its wealth went into transport costs — an inefficient system, option F.

Auckland

“For example, Newman accepts it would be hard for a city as hilly as Auckland to develop a really good rail network”

Newman accepts it 'would be hard for a city as hilly as Auckland to develop a really good rail network', matching option D.

Portland

“Some years ago, federal money was granted to build a new road. However, local pressure groups forced a referendum over whether to spend the money on light rail instead. The rail proposal won and the railway worked spectacularly well”

Portland switched a road budget to light rail after a referendum, and the railway 'worked spectacularly well' — matching option C.