Some people argue that it will be more beneficial if governmental institutions invest more in railway systems instead of roads. I do not agree with this statement, since roads are more cost efficient and provide people with higher flexibility.
To begin with, it is more expensive build railroads than highways when covering the same distance. Would a government decide to initiate with a railway construction, they will have to face additional costs including, building respective platforms, hiring support staff and constantly maintaining the rails. Instead, the authorities can invest in roads and use the savings in other projects, including healthcare, education or science. A recent study conducted by the students of Yerevan State University, faculty of Economics has shown that construction and maintenance of roads is 30% cheaper than that of railways.
Besides that, roads and highways provide with a much wider freedom of choice and flexibility in terms of travel conditions. In other words, with a developed road network the population is able to choose whether to travel via public transportation or a private vehicle. Those people, who possess their own means of transportation will benefit more from newly built roads than from railways, and the remaining will still be able to get to the planned destination by bus or carpooling services. It will therefore be up to the traveler to decide on the timing, the cost and the route of the trip. No wonder, a research by The New York Times published in summer 2017 has shown that only 30% of Americans prefers to travel by trains.
To conclude, the benefits of spending money on roads outweigh those of railways both because the former is efficient and because it provides people with alternative travel options.
Some
people
argue that it will be more beneficial if governmental institutions invest more in
railway
systems
instead
of
roads
. I do not
agree
with this statement, since
roads
are more
cost efficient
and provide
people
with higher flexibility.
To
begin
with, it is more expensive build railroads than highways when covering the same distance. Would a
government
decide to initiate with a
railway
construction, they will
have to
face additional costs including, building respective platforms, hiring support staff and
constantly
maintaining the rails.
Instead
, the authorities can invest in
roads
and
use
the savings in other projects, including healthcare, education or science. A recent study conducted by the students of Yerevan State University, faculty of Economics has shown that construction and maintenance of
roads
is 30% cheaper than that of railways.
Besides
that,
roads
and highways provide with a much wider freedom of choice and flexibility in terms of
travel
conditions.
In other words
, with a developed
road
network the population is able to choose whether to
travel
via public transportation or a private vehicle. Those
people
, who possess their
own
means of transportation will benefit more from
newly
built
roads
than from
railways
, and the remaining will
still
be able to
get
to the planned destination by bus or carpooling services. It will
therefore
be up to the traveler to decide on the timing, the cost and the route of the trip. No wonder,
a research
by The New York Times published in summer 2017 has shown that
only
30% of Americans prefers to
travel
by trains.
To conclude
, the benefits of spending money on
roads
outweigh those of
railways
both
because
the former is efficient and
because
it provides
people
with alternative
travel
options.