Public transport Should be made free of charge. Are there more advantages or disadvantages to this change? - IELTS Essay

Public transport Should  be made free of charge. Are there more advantages or disadvantages to this change?

Ielts Essay Public Transport 

Events of rising traffic congestions on roads have led the experts to stress on adoption of measures to improve public transportation system. Some have even gone to extent of suggesting that use of public mode of movement should me provided free of cost by the state. However, some people hold contrary views.

Provision of free mode of mass transit system can actually act as an inducement to reduce reliance on private means of travelling as nowadays, focus of majority of population is on saving money. Availability of free of charge public commuting system where public does not need to pay even a single penny would encourage it to shun personal means thereby reducing the density of traffic on roads.  This would also bring down the pollution as lesser number of units would be required to move population across the cities.

Moreover, a free of charge public transit facility would indirectly help the economy of the country as the government would not need to import more and more fossil fuel to cater to the demand of petrol and diesel. This aspect would help the government to save substantial amount of valuable foreign exchange generally channelized to disburse the oil bills.

On the other hand, a lobby of experts strongly rejects this idea. They feel establishing provisions of a tariff free mass transit system would prove to be counterproductive and would  heavily tax the financial resources of the government as in this case the onus of generating funds for establishing, maintaining and improving a robust pubic commuting system would be on the state. This would prove to be a waste of public money and prove to be impractical in the long run.

In conclusion, I feel that offering public commuting free of cost carries numerous demerits. It should be hence used with a great caution and priority should be on extending benefits to the needy and deserving only.