Traditional means of reducing traffic congestion promote supply-side

Question

Traditional means of reducing traffic congestion promote supply-side solutions: expanding the supply of roads and highways. However, recent attempts at traffic control have concentrated on the demand side by encouraging carpooling and mass transit through the use of tolls and parking fees. Even used together, these strategies are doomed to fail in the long run because of the high cost of supplementing the existing infrastructure and because of the difficulty of effecting lasting changes on people's driving habits. If a high-occupancy-vehicle lane is built, for example, commuters may be temporarily persuaded to carpool to avoid congestion, but as the amount of traffic in those lanes inevitably grows, the advantages of carpooling begin to diminish. Furthermore, as highways around our major cities continue to be expanded to relieve the problem, valuable land is used up, threatening to overrun those cities with a tangled web of concrete.
 
Luckily, technology has provided what may be at least a partial solution. In Hong Kong, Paris, and other cities, congestion pricing has been tried with encouraging results. Instead of charging a flat toll for road use, congestion pricing, which employs pre-purchased magnetic cards, charges higher per-mile rates for using crowded roads during peak hours. Since the strategy affects price, it is a demand-side policy, but its advantage is that it targets not just one segment of the driving public but all drivers using a particular road. Other demand-side strategies (such as staggered work hours and employer transportation rebates) tend mainly to affect commuters. Congestion pricing may also relieve the often interminable lines at toll booths during rush hours.   1 
 1. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

A. Political obstacles to congestion pricing could be overcome if public anger at traffic congestion becomes strong enough and effective demand-side policies are implemented in a coherent manner.
B. A government campaign to encourage carpooling may extend the amount of time commuters are willing to carpool, but it would eventually become an unproductive policy if it conflicted with plans for mass-transit systems.
C. Supply-side approaches to the problem of traffic congestion are not as likely to succeed as demand-side approaches that employ technology in order to affect the behavior of drivers more effectively.
D. The success of congestion pricing in Hong Kong and Paris ensures its success in the United States, as long as the systems implemented in the United States accurately duplicate the successful systems found in foreign countries.
E. Traffic congestion in highly populated urban areas is not a completely solvable problem, but supply-side strategies can go far in mitigating its worst effects.

2 
 2. The author implies that one of the reasons traditional demand-side approaches to the problem of traffic congestion have not worked is that

A. the cost of building new infrastructure is prohibitively high when compared with other solutions
B. politicians are wary of policies that appear to raise taxes, even if those taxes are spent to maintain local roads and highways
C. government programs that attempt to manipulate social desires are unpopular with the public
D. inducing long-term changes in the transportation behavior of individuals is difficult
E. the escalating costs of damage to the transportation infrastructure have not been matched by adequate increases in tolls and other road taxes

3 
 3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. explain the reasons for the worsening problem of traffic congestion
B. argue that the costs of transportation will almost certainly continue to climb, no matter what policies are instituted
C. blame local politicians for their lack of courage in facing the problems of traffic congestion
D. show how traditional theories of supply and demand can help solve many contemporary mass-transit dilemmas
E. consider some possible solutions to the problem of traffic congestion

4 
 4. It can be inferred from the passage that a high-occupancy-vehicle lane

A. will ease traffic congestion for a while, allowing time for a more efficient system to be developed
B. will only contribute to carpool congestion
C. will be ineffective in changing people's driving habits in the long run
D. will unintentionally punish those drivers who do not contribute to traffic congestion
E. will persuade people to alter permanently their carpooling habits

5 
 5. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's assertion that congestion pricing may offer a solution to the problems of traffic congestion?

A. Traffic in Hong Kong and Paris is much worse than in any other part of the world.
B. All of the cities where congestion pricing was implemented have similar traffic conditions.
C. In all the cities that attempted congestion pricing, there has also been a massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation.
D. Pre-purchased magnetic cards while offering a feasible solution to traffic congestion will ultimately be rejected by the drivers of Europe as unwieldy and wasteful.
E. Drivers in congestion-pricing areas who are frequent road users have altered their driving times whenever possible, due in part to recently implemented staggered work hours.

6 
 6. According to the passage, which of the following would NOT be representative of a demand-side transportation policy?

I. Atoll road through a congested city
II. An increased parking fee in urban areas
III. Expanded roadways for high-occupancy vehicles

A. None
B. I only
C. II only
D. III only
E. II and III only

7 
 7. The passage suggests that the author believes one disadvantage of a supply-side response to the problem of traffic congestion is that

A. even at current levels, the number of roads and highways has taken overland that could be put to better use
B. supply-side strategies are inherently more expensive than other strategies, which means there would need to be a steady tax stream with which to fund them
C. carpooling only works in the short term and does not address traffic other than commuter traffic
D. there are not enough funds to maintain the roads and highways already in existence
E. no matter how many new roads are built, demand will always be greater than supply

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice 2 RCs Daily.   
Passage # 27 Date: 20-Jan-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

Neha2404 · Answer

1-C
2-D
3-E

IMO-C

1. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

A. Political obstacles to congestion pricing could be overcome if public anger at traffic congestion becomes strong enough and effective demand-side policies are implemented in a coherent manner.-
Incorrect Political obstacles didn’t discuss by author

B. A government campaign to encourage carpooling may extend the amount of time commuters are willing to carpool, but it would eventually become an unproductive policy if it conflicted with plans for mass-transit systems.-incorrect :- A government campaign to encourage carpooling didnt mentioned by author

C. Supply-side approaches to the problem of traffic congestion are not as likely to succeed as demand-side approaches that employ technology in order to affect the behavior of drivers more effectively.
Correct according to 2nd para

D. The success of congestion pricing in Hong Kong and Paris ensures its success in the United States, as long as the systems implemented in the United States accurately duplicate the successful systems found in foreign countries.- 
Incorrect-The success of congestion pricing in Hong Kong and Paris is discussed by author but doesn’t system implementation in US is not mentioned

E. Traffic congestion in highly populated urban areas is not a completely solvable problem, but supply-side strategies can go far in mitigating its worst effects.-incorrect

IMO-D

Supporting lines:-these strategies are doomed to fail in the long run because of the high cost of supplementing the existing infrastructure and because of the difficulty of effecting lasting changes on people's driving habits.

2. The author implies that one of the reasons traditional demand-side approaches to the problem of traffic congestion have not worked is that

A. the cost of building new infrastructure is prohibitively high when compared with other solutions
Incorrect- use of prohibitively make this answer choice extreme

B. politician are wary of policies that appear to raise taxes, even if those taxes are spent to maintain local roads and highways
- incorrect- not mentioned in the passage

C. government programs that attempt to manipulate social desires are unpopular with the public- 
Incorrect- author doesn’t not discussed about government programs that attempt to manipulate social desires are unpopular with the public-

D. inducing long-term changes in the transportation behavior of individuals is difficult
Correct- according to supporting lines

E. the escalating costs of damage to the transportation infrastructure have not been matched by adequate increases in tolls and other road taxes
Incorrect not mentioned by author

3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. explain the reasons for the worsening problem of traffic congestion
Incorrect-Author discussed about traffic congestion and its reduction 
But not mentioned reason behind it

B argue that the costs of transportation will almost certainly continue to climb, no matter what policies are instit.uted
INCORRECT-Author doesn’t argue that the costs of transportation will almost certainly continue to climb, no matter what policies are instit

C. blame local politicians for their lack of courage in facing the problems of traffic congestion
Incorrect- author doesn’t blame local politicians about traffic congestion

D. show how traditional theories of supply and demand can help solve many contemporary mass-transit dilemmas
Incorrect-Author discussed bith theory but not show how traditional theories of supply and demand can help solve many contemporary mass-transit dilemmas

E. consider some possible solutions to the problem of traffic congestion
-Correct in 1st para author discussed supply side methods and demand side methods to reduce traffic congestion 
In second para author discussed about new demand side technology applied by hong kong and other contries

Posted from my mobile device

Elmar91 · Answer

don't think that 7th question has the right answer due to this sentence"Furthermore, as highways around our major cities continue to be expanded to relieve the problem, valuable land is used up, threatening to overrun those cities with a tangled web of concrete." A is incorrect as it there is nothing that tells about this problem to be present now.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

There is no problem with the answer at all as  A  is a concrete and clear answer here, You have identified the text correctly but probably taken that the wrong way. In fact the text you have quoted:

"Furthermore, as highways around our major cities continue to be expanded to relieve the problem, valuable land is used up, threatening to overrun those cities with a tangled web of concrete."

Leads to the answer  A.

The second close one is  E

E. no matter how many new roads are built, demand will always be greater than supply

But it is too extreme and cannot stand as OA.

Esha1999 · Answer

Can someone please explain the 5th Q?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's assertion that congestion pricing may offer a solution to the problems of traffic congestion?

Difficulty Level:   750

Explanation

This is a CR type of question so we can adapt our CR strategies here, First of all, find the support from the passage and then find the correct answer. Support from the passage can be found in the following lines:

"In Hong Kong, Paris, and other cities, congestion pricing has been tried with encouraging results. Instead of charging a flat toll for road use, congestion pricing, which employs pre-purchased magnetic cards, charges higher per-mile rates for using crowded roads during peak hours."

The answer option weakening the above assertion of the author must attack the conclusion of the above quoted lines: Let's read each answer choice.

A. Traffic in Hong Kong and Paris is much worse than in any other part of the world.

There could be more issues with the traffic in Hong Kong and Paris, this option is not attacking the assertion of the author.

B. All of the cities where congestion pricing was implemented have similar traffic conditions.

This option is the same as  (A)  it is providing and trying to trap us with unnecessary outside information.

C. In all the cities that attempted congestion pricing, there has also been  a massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation.

This piece of information is related to the assertion of the author and it looks like something serious to consider, let's keep it for now.

D.  Pre-purchased magnetic cards while offering a feasible solution to traffic congestion will ultimately be rejected by the drivers  of  Europe as unwieldy and wasteful.

In the first look, this option looks promising starts with something sensible and related to the requirement of the question but it goes wrong at the very end of it, Talking about Europe limits its scope and makes this option out of scope. All the green text above looks promising more than the answer C but the text in red strikes it out.

E.  Drivers in congestion-pricing areas who are frequent road users have altered their driving times whenever possible ,  due in part to recently implemented staggered work hours.

This option also looks good, it talks about something we are looking for but in the end, it is also inducted out of the scope information and it is not better than  C  and  D  above.

Now coming back to  C , to get this question one needs to understand the second half of the answer option  C .

a massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation.

C tells us that when the cities attempted the congestion pricing the availability of convenient public transportation in the other part of the cities increases and hence its works conversely to what is needed and it weakens the author's assertion too.

Answer: C

NamaySharma · Answer

Hey Sajjad. Great passage as usual. Took about 9 minutes to complete it. Got everything right. Could you share the difficulty level of the questions?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The following should be the difficulty level of each question.

Question #1: 700
Question #2: 600
Question #3: 500
Question #4: 650
Question #5: 700+
Question #6: 650
Question #7: 700+

Thank you

nayas96 · Answer

4. It can be inferred from the passage that a high-occupancy-vehicle lane

A. will ease traffic congestion for a while, allowing time for a more efficient system to be developed
B. will only contribute to carpool congestion
C. will be ineffective in changing people's driving habits in the long run
D. will unintentionally punish those drivers who do not contribute to traffic congestion
E. will persuade people to alter permanently their car pooling habits

In what way does high occupancy vehicle lane effect the people driving habits? 
The passage clearly mentions that as and when we start building high occupancy vehicle lanes, the possibility of those lanes leading to be filled with vehicles (traffic starts to pile up on those lanes), leading to carpool congestion and hence the main purpose of carpooling is diminished.

nayas96 · Answer

Can you please explain how when the cities attempted the congestion pricing availability of convenient public transportation in the other part of the cities increases and how does it weaken the author's assertion.

C. In all the cities that attempted congestion pricing, there has also been a massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation.

The option only explains about the increase in availability of public transport, where the congestion pricing was started. This would actually help the argument in a way because people will use the public transport to avoid the congestion fees. With the increase in the number of public transport, people will tend to use the public transport more, decreasing the amount of traffic on the roads. 
I can understand that by the increase in the use of public transport, the number of public vehicles will increase on the street, but nothing of this sort is mentioned in the option or in the passage.

Can you please help me clarify this issue?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

4. It can be inferred from the passage that a high-occupancy-vehicle lane

Difficulty Level:   650

Explanation

Step 1:  Read the question carefully, know what it demands.

Step 2:  Find the support from the passage:

The below is the related text from the passage.

" these strategies are doomed to fail in the long run  because of the high cost of supplementing the existing infrastructure and because of the  difficulty of effecting lasting changes on people's driving habits.  If a high-occupancy-vehicle lane is built, for example, commuters may be  temporarily persuaded  to  carpool  to avoid congestion, but as the amount of traffic in those lanes inevitably grows, the advantages of carpooling begin to diminish.

Now infer from the above text. Do not narrow down the definition of "driving habits". Driving habits here do not mean how drivers use the brakes, how speedily they drive, or how proficient they are in technical driving. Driving habits mean how people come on the road with their vehicles i.e carpooling. It is also important to know what carpooling is.

Step 3:  Use the process of elimination and select the best answer.

A, D  and  E  are nowhere near,  B  and  C  are contenders and  C  is far more better than  B .

Answer: C

nayas96 · Answer

Thank you for your reply.
You mentioned that (B) and (C) are contenders, but is option (C) the better option because option (B) mentions the word "only"?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Step 1:  Read the question statement carefully know what it demands.

Which of the following, if true,  would most weaken the author's assertion  that congestion pricing may offer a solution to the problems of traffic congestion?

The question asks us to find a statement among the given five that weaken the author statement about "congestion pricing being used as a solution to the problem of traffic congestion.

Step 2:  Find the support from the passage

Find the text from the passage in which the author asserted that congestion pricing may offer a solution to the problems of traffic congestion.

"In Hong Kong, Paris, and other cities,  congestion pricing  has been tried with  encouraging results . Instead of charging a flat toll for road use, congestion pricing, which employs pre-purchased magnetic cards, charges higher per-mile rates for using crowded roads during peak hours."

Step 3:  Use the process of elimination and select the best answer

A. Traffic in Hong Kong and Paris is much worse than in any other part of the world. 
It is not related.

B. All of the cities where congestion pricing was implemented have similar traffic conditions. 
Same as (A) not related.

C. In all the cities that attempted congestion pricing, there has also been a massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation.

This is correct: If by using congestion pricing strategy, the increase in the availability of convenient public transportation also happens then what will be the logic using the strategy? One solution doesn't mean bringing another problem. The overall issue will remain ultimately.

D. Pre-purchased magnetic cards while offering a feasible solution to traffic congestion will ultimately be rejected by the drivers of Europe as unwieldy and wasteful.

In the first look, this option looks promising starts with something sensible and related to the requirement of the question but it goes wrong at the very end of it, Talking about Europe limits its scope and makes this option out of scope. Does the passage state anything about EUROPE?

E. Drivers in congestion-pricing areas who are frequent road users have altered their driving times whenever possible, due in part to recently implemented staggered work hours.

This is actually the opposite and it strengthens the author's assertion about the congestion pricing strategy.

Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

No! the word  "only"  is not the reason for B to be incorrect. Read the support text from the passage which I have also quoted in the previous reply, option (B) neglects  "the long-term"  impact of people's driving habits.

JCGF2021 · Answer

nayas96  in the 5th question, I believe answer C makes sense if we interpret it as in spite of the massive increase in the availability of convenient public transportation, drivers still prefer to pay to use congestion areas therefore congestion pricing is not a solution to the problems of traffic congestion. What do you think of my interpretation  Sajjad1994 ?

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Traditional means of reducing traffic congestion promote supply-side

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Traditional means of reducing traffic congestion promote supply-side

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