There are two cities Armia and Banur, 50 miles away. A premium Bus ser

E for me...
reasoning:
b is a contender but limited bus service, because they may not need one or not enough people to travel in the route

(A) It strengthens the argument, but is not the best reason. Out
(B) This strengthens the argument. But does not tell whether there is enough demand.
(C) This actually weakens the argument.
(D) This showcases that there is a demand and therefore is the best option.
(E) This is premise booster. Out.

(D) is the best choice.

Hi AMGB, I thought of E to be a contender as i zeroed on B and E but chose B because of the following reason:

I consider option E to be the motive of increasing revenue which is implied in the argument. But option B is what fills the gap that E leaves. E assumes that there are no or very less bus service at this particular point at which the travel company decides to halt whereas B actually states it. Hence if B is true I consider it to most strengthen the argument than E.

Let us see what the MOD has to say

D- because it says there is a demand for bus service. So the operator can achieve 100%.

Posted from my mobile device

what gap are you trying to fill... that there is a demand in other place..
Option E just strengths that though 90% of the seats are full then , the operator is more interrested in revenue than anything else,, for it is just 10% of the seats that needs to be full. if it was lets say 50% of the seats needed to be full then B or D might have bben the case.

Travel Agent says: We have 10% vacancy in our bus which we intend to fill in

You ask: Why do you intend to fill in?

Travel Agent Says : Obvious being a bus operator we want to see to it our buses are full so that we make more revenue and this being fixed route we can expect people who travel between these 2 places use our service regularly hereafter if they are satisfied

You Ask : But then why do you intend to halt at this specific place called "Town Creepia"?

Travel Agent Responds : There is limited bus service available at this place which is what we want to capitalize on.


Hope my stance is clear now. As for the answer choice on residents already using private transport due to absence of public transport there is no mention in the stimulus that travel-one is a public transport company hence cannot use this option and i would consider it out of scope. Only contenders in my opinion are options B and E and I have given reasons for why I chose B!

If the residents of the city already has an alternate arrangement , why will they shift to the bus service ??

This is not a strengthener at all , hence reject it...

I think D is correct. A is out because it's irrelevant; we don't care about profits. C weakens the argument. Similarly, E is out because it doesn't effect the argument in any way. B is a very tempting trap answer choice, but perhaps there's very limited bus service in Creepia because it's unneeded. Adding another bus won't make a difference necessarily. D, on the other hand, provides a somewhat plausible reason why people would switch over from riding cars to taking the bus. It's not a great strengthener but still the best among the answer choices.

Non stop bus service. Bus is 90% filled. The operator aims to increase the occupancy to 100% by making a halt at Creepia.

Possible Strengthener:
1) There is demand for buses in Creepia to fill up the remaining 10% of seats.
2) 90% of the passengers in the bus are not deterred by interruption in the non stop bus service.

1) There are no additional expenditure incurred in terms of fuel and other resources due to the stoppage. - Incorrect - Argument is not concerned about cost.

2) There are very limited bus services available at Creepia. - Incorrect - Limited bus service does not mean that there is demand for the buses. The argument does not state it. Out of scope

3) The passengers using the bus service presently use it because of non-stop service. - Incorrect - Weakener

4) The people of Creepia presently use private vehicles due to limited means of public transport. - Correct - Because of limited means of public transport, people of Creepia use private vehicles. This means that there is a demand for public transport here and if buses are introduced people will shift from private vehicles to public transport, thereby filling the remaining 10% of seats.

5) Travel-One generally operates its bus service keeping the revenue as a priority. - Incorrect - Revenue is least of our concern.

Answer: D

1) There are no additional expenditure incurred in terms of fuel and other resources due to the stoppage. Out of scope, the plan does not concern expnditures, the plan is to fill the bus to full capacity by gaining customers who are travelling to Creepia.
2) There are very limited bus services available at Creepia. Shows that there is not much competition, which means that this bus stop will be in demand. SUFFICIENT
3) The passengers using the bus service presently use it because of non-stop service. This means that they might lose current customers, but does not mean that this stop will not allow them to gain new customers travelling to Creepia.
4) The people of Creepia presently use private vehicles due to limited means of public transport. Weakens the argument, since, it is not clear if they would switch if there were a bus going.
5) Travel-One generally operates its bus service keeping the revenue as a priority. Out of scope, not relevant to the main plan.

Answer: B

We can narrow it down to B & D.

But in D,it states public transport which can be Train,Bus etc. and not any specific mode i.e bus.Whereas in B it clearly states that there is a lack of Bus services available to the people of Creepia.

B for me.OA & OE Plz

Hi,
It has been a great discussion on the Q till now. Few of you have evaluated/interpreted the Q in the exact manner it was written in.
OA and OE will be posted within next 24 hours

the plan is to fill up the remaining 10% of the seats !!

1. expenditure incurred in terms of fuel and other resources has nothing to do with filling of the remaining seats !! --out
2.There are very limited bus services available at Creepia. (seems promising will keep it for now )
3.use it because of non-stop service (This weakens it-- as they are planning to add another stoppage !!)
4.The people of Creepia presently use private vehicles due to limited means of public transport (promising)
5.revenue as a priority ( does not go with the plan ,which is to fill up the remaining 10% of the seats)

we are left with 2 and 4
in case of option 2 --- what if the limited buses have empty seats or there are other means of public transportation !! (here they are talking only about bus service)

option 4 -- clearly states that there are limited means of public transportation and use of buses should definitely help them !!

therefore 4.

Hi,

The Q asks us to strengthen the operator's PLAN. So first lets find the plan...
To fill up the 10% seats by making a halt enroute at Town Creepia.

Lets see the choices-

1) There are no additional expenditure incurred in terms of fuel and other resources due to the stoppage.
Good for revenue and profit. But does not give any reason WHY the 10% seats should get filled up by making a halt at Creepia.

2) There are very limited bus services available at Creepia.
A trap and very close to be the answer.
Limited Bus service may mean there is no requirement of bus or there may be other transport available, which may be getting used and therefore, there is no demand for any other mode of transport

3) The passengers using the bus service presently use it because of non-stop service.
This actually may work as a weakener, as the people using it may stop using the bus service because of the halt

4) The people of Creepia presently use private vehicles due to limited means of public transport.
CORRECT.
the catch and reason over B is "due to"... This means people are being forced to use their private vehicles due to lesser number of transport available. So surely there is a demand for public transport / buses. Perfectly fits in as a strengthener

5) Travel-One generally operates its bus service keeping the revenue as a priority.
Revenue may be a priority but how does it help in plan.. No it doesn't strengthen the plan

the 2 best replies get Kudos

Chetan i Disagree. Public transport can be anything ranging from railways to trams. I think the choice simply broadens the scope of the question which is in my view incorrect. Also public transport would be used to travel within their own city usually while the question stimulus mentions that this bus operates from one city to another city. I think this is not correct.

Hi senthil,

The Q is not about bus, railways or trams, it is about availability of passengers to fill this 10 %.
If there are other means to travel from one place to other, passengers will not be available. Say 90% of them travel by railway, metros, there may not be requirement of buses at all because of a sound rail system.

And public transport is ofcourse used not only within city but also from one place to another. May be B and D could be made easier by adding from creepia to Banur, but we are looking for a strengthener and need not be so specific in the choices.

Hi Chetan,

"If there are other means to travel from one place to other, passengers will not be available. Say 90% of them travel by railway, metros, there may not be requirement of buses at all because of a sound rail system"

That is the assumption based on which choice D is in my view and hence incorrect. Apologies I still cannot accept that choice due to the above explanation