A nonprofit organization in Motor City

Question

A nonprofit organization in Motor City has proposed that local college students
be given the option to buy half-price monthly passes for the city's public transportation
system. The nonprofit claims that this plan will reduce air pollution in
Motor City while increasing profits for the city's public transportation system.
However, this plan is unlikely to meet its goals, as_____________ .

(A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively expensive

(C) college students typically do not have the 9-to-5 schedules of most workers, and can thus be expected to ride public transportation at times when there are plenty of empty seats

(D) a bus produces more air pollution per mile than does a car

(E) a large proportion of the college students in Motor City live off campus

b9n920 · Accepted Answer

In this Question many possible situations could be responsible for the failure of the plan. E.g. if buses produce more pollution compared to other vehicles, as D states.
But wait!!! D only mentioned cars. Who said that students usually commute by cars? They may use a motorbike or a bicycle :wink:

making D wrong choice. B,C and E are easy eliminated, I guess.

~Binit.

making D wrong choice. B,C and E are easy eliminated, I guess. ~Binit.

sauravleo123 · Answer

Conclusion:
The plan is unlikely to meet its goals.
We have to insert an additional premise that shows why the plan may not meet the goal.
Prethinking: College students do not want to take up public transportation.
A. Bingo. Exactly in line with our prethinking.
B. Ticket rates are gonna be half. Eliminate
C. Empty seats do not affect the decision of the students. Eliminate. 
D. Out of scope.
E. Irrelevant.
Hence A

Yogita25 · Answer

I marked D in the first place, but I understood why it is a wrong option. Still I am not able to find the reason for C and E to be wrong. Why did you prefer A over rest of the options?

nsaruna · Answer

A nonprofit organization in Motor City has proposed that local college students
be given the option to buy half-price monthly passes for the city's public transportation
system. The nonprofit claims that this plan will reduce air pollution in
Motor City while increasing profits for the city's public transportation system.
However, this plan is unlikely to meet its goals, as_____________ .

(A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe -  CORRECT- Since if most students will not prefer transportation for safety reasons most of them will not get the passes.

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively
expensive -  This strengthens since the passes are going to minimize the expense and most students will travel by buses

(C) college students typically do not have the 9-to-5 schedules of most workers,
and can thus be expected to ride public transportation at times when there
are plenty of empty seats -  Its a monthly pass hence doesnt matter when the students board the bus

(D) a bus produces more air pollution per mile than does a car -  Irrelevant to the scenario since the bus has always been there if not for students. So doesnt affect the plan in any way.

(E) a large proportion of the college students in Motor City live off campus -  Strengthens by saying that more students will use the bus.

b9n920 · Answer

Hi Yogita25, I am trying to explain briefly. In C the main point is TIME, but the plan would still be successful irrespective of the time students travel - In fact, the way C is written it eliminates a possible weakener - students do not prefer bus travel because seats are unavailable . E definitely strengthens the plan: As college students in Motor City live off campus , they would love the monthly pass idea. Only A gives a definite reason that can lead to the failure of the plan, I understand you may not like option A because it seems to be a very casual point, but that's where the trick lies. Wrong answers usually come in fancy disguise :wink:

POE would probably be the best way to go here. ~Binit.

noTh1ng · Answer

Honestly, A seemed to easy when I first read it! This would be to obvious was my first reaction, crossed it off in my mind and then I somehow got mislead by D.

Yogita25 pointed out very well why that choice is wrong, who said that students drive by car? They may use motorcycles or any other mean of transportation.

mvictor · Answer

a note to keep in mind: students will not buy passes, thus, no increase in profits.

(A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe
gives a good reason why students would not buy passes. most = 51-100%
even if 1-49% would buy, then it will not be sufficient to cover the losses since the passes would be sold at 1/2 price.
A is a very good candidate for correct answer.

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively
expensive
but the price would be 1/2. so out.

(C) college students typically do not have the 9-to-5 schedules of most workers,
and can thus be expected to ride public transportation at times when there
are plenty of empty seats
so what? does this mean that they will not buy passes? no.

(D) a bus produces more air pollution per mile than does a car
irrelevant. we need $$ side as well. furthermore, for ex. 40 people can take the bus in the same time. what if they take cars instead? 40 cars can produce more pollution than a bus. thus, D is out.

(E) a large proportion of the college students in Motor City live off campus
this gives a good reason to buy the pass.

hwgmat2015 · Answer

I still don't get why not option B. the option says tickets are   prohibitively  expensive. So even if tickets are reduced by half there is no reason to assume that tickets will still be affordable.

In option A just because public transport is viewed as unsafe does not mean they will not use it does not sound good. In real world most of the times public transports are considered unsafe. Does this mean we don't use it? I always thought GMAT uses real world examples !

Any thoughts !

chetan2u · Answer

HI,

FIRST we are to find what the plan is-
the plan is to encourage the students to use public transport by reducing the price of the ticket. so the consideration for plan to work is that the students will get attracted to LOW prices.

Now lets see the choice A and B
 (A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe 
 This choice tells us that it is not the money that is the reason for students avoiding Public transport but the safety issues related to it..CORRECT

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively expensive 
 the students view it very expensive, so a cut of 50% should actually be the reason to move to the PUBLIC transport..
We should not get into too much of assumptions, since it says it is expensive and there is a slash of 50%, the rates have come down considerably and it is good enough reason for the students,atleast a few, to shift to this mode of transport

pratik1709 · Answer

Nice Question!!! Options are very close!!! took 2.5 min.

Skywalker18 · Answer

A nonprofit organization in Motor City has proposed that local college students
be given the option to buy half-price monthly passes for the city's public transportation
system. The nonprofit claims that this plan will reduce air pollution in
Motor City while increasing profits for the city's public transportation system.
However, this plan is unlikely to meet its goals, as_____________ .

(A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe - Correct - provides a reason that in spite of two good things about the plan, students will not use public transport

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively expensive - Incorrect - but as per plan , students will get passes at 50% price

(C) college students typically do not have the 9-to-5 schedules of most workers, and can thus be expected to ride public transportation at times when there are plenty of empty seats - Incorrect - this gives a reason that the plan can be successful

(D) a bus produces more air pollution per mile than does a car - Incorrect - but a bus can take a larger number of passengers

(E) a large proportion of the college students in Motor City live off campus - Irrelevant - if this is true , then college students can become a potential customer base

Answer A

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo E

In question such as this always expect to have some extra information in options .
A and B actually strengthens the argument .
E also strengthens the argument 
D is irrelevant .

Whereas we are given that the transportation system is unsafe so it will be a deterant for the students even if the prices of passes are reduced

bluetrain · Answer

A could be a best option.

But It`s a bit problematic.

A only states that it is unsafe. 
But, In premises we do know price will be half of the present price. 
 
If there were another contender, A could have not been a right answer.

KungFuGmat · Answer

I don't think its problematic. We know from argument that non profit wants students to travel on public transportation. They think they only think stopping students from using it currently is the high cost. So they propose cutting ticket price to half. NOW what is the way this plan would fail?

if cost is not the biggest consideration

if I am student and I think my safety is at stake... even if the ride is free, I would not take it. Hence A is the clear winner. Of course, it could be something else in a correct answer. 
Like the buses take twice as long to reach places because of longer routes or something...

HoneyLemon · Answer

A nonprofit organization in Motor City has proposed that local college students
be given the option to buy half-price monthly passes for the city's public transportation
system. The nonprofit claims that this plan will reduce air pollution in
Motor City while increasing profits for the city's public transportation system.
However, this plan is unlikely to meet its goals, as_____________ .

Conclusion  The plan of providing half price monthly pass to city's Publication Transportation system for the students is unlikely to meet its goal .

Premise : 
  
1.The nonprofit claims that this plan will reduce air pollution in Motor City while increasing profits for the city's public transportation system

we are we need to strengthen this conclusion
 
 let's analyse 
In what scenario, the plan is unlikely to meet its goal.
 what if the students who were given half price for the cities Transportation system don't like to to use public transport..In that case the plan will not meet its goal.. 
With this understanding let's go for POE

(A) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as unsafe

1. This can be my answer.. if most college student in motor city view public transport as unsafe then less than 50% student may use public transport .In that case we have a strong reason to believe that the plan may not achieve its intended goal

(B) most college students in Motor City view public transportation as prohibitively expensive
 
1.Most college students in motor city view public transportation as expensive but right now they are given a choice to travel in half price .so it doesn't provide a strong belief that students may not opt for the public transportation

(C) college students typically do not have the 9-to-5 schedules of most workers, and can thus be expected to ride public transportation at times when there are plenty of empty seats

-- This is a weakener to the conclusion

(D) a bus produces more air pollution per mile than does a car

-- This is out of scope to the conclusion

(E) a large proportion of the college students in Motor City live off campus

-- This is a weakener to the conclusion

A  is the best choice and is my answer

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A nonprofit organization in Motor City

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A nonprofit organization in Motor City

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