IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 – Public Transport vs Roads
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Model Essay (Target Band 8–8.5)
Allocating transport budgets is difficult where ageing roads coexist with unreliable buses and trains. Some argue that roads should take precedence, whereas others favour public transport. Although maintenance is indispensable, I believe governments should generally prioritise mass transit while addressing serious road-safety problems.
Supporters of road investment emphasise its economic reach. Roads carry freight, emergency vehicles and commuters, including people beyond the reach of rail networks. Potholes, inadequate lighting and unsafe junctions can delay deliveries and increase the risk of collisions. In sparsely populated regions, expanding bus or rail services may attract too few passengers to justify their operating costs. Upgrading essential roads can therefore be a more practical use of limited funds, especially where basic connections are missing.
However, making driving easier does not necessarily solve urban congestion. Wider roads may initially reduce delays, but they can encourage more car journeys, eventually filling the additional space. By contrast, frequent buses and well-connected rail services can transport more people using less road space. Affordable fares and dependable schedules also give residents who cannot drive or afford a car greater access to jobs and education. These benefits extend beyond passengers: fewer private vehicles can improve air quality and make streets safer.
In my view, priorities should reflect local conditions. Large cities should invest primarily in integrated transit networks, supported by safe walking routes and dedicated bus lanes. Rural areas may need road repairs first, while dangerous bridges and junctions deserve immediate attention everywhere. Governments should assess whether projects actually shorten journeys and increase access, rather than judging success by kilometres built.
Overall, both forms of infrastructure are necessary, but public transport usually offers the greater long-term return in crowded cities. Road upgrades should remain targeted at safety and essential connectivity.
Analytical Review – Strengths, Limitations & Actionable Improvements
This question requires two explained viewpoints and the writer's own opinion. A list of transport advantages is insufficient; each view needs a reason why the government should allocate scarce public money in that direction.
- Introduction: presents the disagreement and gives a qualified preference for mass transit.
- Body 1: explains why roads matter for deliveries, emergency access and remote communities; it also considers whether low passenger numbers justify transit expenditure.
- Body 2: explains why roads alone may not resolve congestion and connects public transport with capacity, access and air quality.
- Body 3: applies the writer's position to cities, rural areas and urgent safety hazards.
- Conclusion: reiterates a clear funding priority without treating all road spending as wasteful.
- A genuine trade-off: the essay recognises that budgets are limited; spending on one option has an opportunity cost.
- Context-dependent judgement: the best choice differs between crowded cities and sparsely populated regions.
- Mechanisms rather than slogans: more road capacity can attract additional journeys, while a frequent transit service can move more people within limited space.
- Social inclusion: accessibility is discussed for people who cannot afford or operate a car, not simply for existing commuters.
- Concrete policy tools: dedicated bus lanes, safe walking routes and repairs to dangerous junctions make the recommendation actionable.
- Induced demand needs qualification: extra road capacity can encourage more driving, but the magnitude varies. The modal verb can correctly avoids presenting it as inevitable.
- Running costs are underexplored: new rail lines and buses require ongoing maintenance, drivers and dependable funding. A more developed version could acknowledge that capital expenditure alone does not guarantee good service.
- Roads and public transport overlap: buses also use roads. Funding bus priority lanes or repairing bus corridors may achieve both goals, so the two categories should not be treated as completely separate.
- No real-world case study: a short, accurate example could help, but IELTS does not require country names or statistics. Never invent numerical evidence to sound academic.
| Expression | Meaning / Best Use |
|---|---|
| allocate transport budgets | Decide how public transport funding is distributed; useful for policy introductions. |
| take precedence | Receive priority over an alternative; stronger and more precise than "be more important". |
| mass transit | High-capacity shared passenger transport, especially in urban areas. |
| road-safety problems | Risks caused by unsafe roads or junctions; distinguishes safety work from general expansion. |
| economic reach | The range of economic activities an investment supports; use only when explaining how. |
| sparsely populated regions | Areas with relatively few residents across a large space. |
| justify operating costs | Provide benefits sufficient to make continuing expenditure worthwhile. |
| urban congestion | Heavy traffic and delays within cities. |
| dependable schedules | Reliable timetables that allow people to plan journeys. |
| integrated transit networks | Connected services that work well together, such as buses and rail. |
| dedicated bus lanes | Road lanes reserved principally for buses; a specific infrastructure intervention. |
| essential connectivity | Access to vital destinations and services, especially in underserved places. |
Active learning: Select three expressions and produce one original sentence linking each to a clear consequence. Knowing a phrase's definition is not enough to use it accurately in an exam.
- Concession + stance: "Although maintenance is indispensable, I believe ..." acknowledges an objection without losing the position.
- Condition-sensitive argument: "In sparsely populated regions, ... may attract too few passengers to justify ..." limits a claim to the setting where it is plausible.
- Balanced causal claim: "Wider roads may initially reduce delays, but they can encourage more car journeys ..." presents a short-term gain followed by a possible longer-term consequence.
- Precise comparison: "rather than judging success by kilometres built" contrasts outcomes with inputs, not merely one transport type with another.
Accuracy trap: Public transport is generally uncountable in this meaning. Write "investment in public transport", not "investments in public transports". Also distinguish road maintenance (repair) from road expansion (additional capacity).
Current: "By contrast, frequent buses and well-connected rail services can transport more people using less road space."
Possible upgrade: "By contrast, frequent buses and connected rail services make it possible to move large numbers of commuters without requiring every traveller to occupy road space in a private car."
Why it helps: The revised sentence makes the comparison's mechanism more explicit. It is not automatically worth extra points; use it only if you can keep the essay concise and natural.
- Minutes 0–4: underline "discuss both views" and "your opinion"; decide your position before drafting.
- Minutes 4–8: plan one strong explanation for roads, one for public transport, and a decision rule that reconciles them.
- Minutes 8–34: write the essay. Prioritise developed reasons over long introductions or memorised phrases.
- Minutes 34–40: check whether the opinion is explicit; then proofread articles, prepositions, agreement, repeated vocabulary and punctuation.
| Criterion | What the Learner Should Check |
|---|---|
| Task Response | Are both positions justified, and does the final recommendation follow the reasoning? |
| Coherence & Cohesion | Does every paragraph perform a distinct function? Are links logical rather than mechanical? |
| Lexical Resource | Are terms such as maintenance, expansion and operating costs used precisely? |
| Grammatical Range & Accuracy | Do complex sentences remain controlled, and are qualifying verbs such as may and can used accurately? |
Challenge: In 60–75 words, explain why bus priority lanes might sometimes outperform both a new motorway and a costly metro line.
Required reasoning: name the problem, explain a mechanism, acknowledge one limitation and reach a conditional judgement. Do not copy a sentence from the model essay.
Band note: This is a model written with Band 8–8.5 performance in mind, not a guaranteed official IELTS result. Examiners assess the complete response using the four marking criteria; invented statistics and forced advanced grammar do not independently raise a band score.