Topic : discuss measures that might be introduced to reduce traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a major problem in many urban population centers. This phenomenon is caused in part by a demand-supply imbalance in the transportation network and leads to increased travel time which in turn results in lowered productivity and excess pollution. There is a multitude of possible actions that could be taken to somewhat alleviate the issue of traffic congestion. Firstly, subsidizing public transport fees for passengers may make this more "compact" means of travel more popular. Some would argue that this would be too costly to put into place, however, when we take into account that we already heavily subsidize public transport, the jump in costs wouldn't be as great as it might seem. The benefits that this would bring would include lower traffic congestion and therefore higher productivity due to less time wasted on commuting, which would likely offset the extra costs. Secondly, a "mileage tax" could not only lead to increased tax revenue but also to more people opting to travel via public transport and in doing so not contribute to traffic congestion. Although, not everyone shares my opinion. One might say that it would be difficult to keep track of how much a vehicle gets around. From my point of view, however, this is a superficial problem since yearly car inspections are a standard procedure, and taking note of how much the total mileage changed over twelve months would be a non-issue. In conclusion, the solution to reducing traffic congestion lies hidden within the basic principles of a market economy: the balance of supply and demand. By lowering the demand for driving a car via tax and by raising the demand for a substitute service we drag down the number of vehicles on the roads of our major cities to a point more in line with what our transportation networks can handle and in doing so reduce overall traffic congestion, which would, as previously mentioned, likely lead to higher productivity and lower pollution.