Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree? What other measures do you think might be effective?

Over the last half-century, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of vehicles. This has resulted in numerous traffic jams especially in the big cities and consequently, high levels of air pollution. Although there are those who believe that increasing oil rates might help solve this problem, I am strongly inclined to believe that higher petrol prices will have serious drawbacks in our society. Firstly, oil and gas play a fundamental role in the industry, since most of the heavy machinery used in different industries are operated by gasoline. For example, a recent study conducted in Japan has revealed that nearly 80% of all businesses are sensitive to the this. In addition, this will indirectly influence the costs of the various goods in the market by increasing the cost of their transportation. Eventually, this will burden the people and limit their freedom to travel to enjoy their leisure time. Undoubtedly, the growth of oil and gas fares will create new problems. On the contrary, there are some other ways to tackle traffic and pollutions problem in cities. To begin with, improving methods of public transportation as well as the increase in their availability everywhere around the clock, will significantly reduce the use of private cars. To illustrate, a recent study published in Canada has shown that the upward trend in the various means of public transportation such as buses and trains resulted in a decrease the number of traffic jams and road accidents by around 25%. Moreover, the government should invest more in repairing and maintaining roads as well as constructing new roads to solve the problem and traffic congestion. Furthermore, scientists should search for the sources of clean energy such as solar power and nuclear power to replace fossil fuel. To conclude, it can be seen that the cons of increasing petrol prices outweigh the pros hence I am strongly against the idea of increasing gasoline rates. Though, Government and scientists can prevent the situation from further deterioration through new mobility solutions and innovation in renewable energy.