Reading skills - TRAVELLING IN CITIES
Klausimas #1
TRAVELLING IN CITIES
The first roads in cities
In the past, streets in cities were built for people to walk in or drive along in horse-drawn cabs. People usually walked to work because their home and place of work were close to one another. Today, the number of people working and visiting in cities has increased. The building of scycraper office blocks and tall shops has resulted in a greater concentration of people. As more and more people use cars to get to work and travel in cities, the old systems cannot cope with the volume of traffic.
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
|
Country |
Number of private motor cars (millions) | Population |
| United States | 97.0 | 200 |
| Great Britain | 11.2 | 51 |
| Spain | 4.0 | 32 |
| Sweden | 2.2 | 8 |
| West Pakistan | 0.06 | 43 |
The table shows how the problem of traffic congestion has been created in some countries. It is made worse in a country such as Britain where 80% of the population live in urban areas. Road traffic is increasing at between five to ten percent per year. If the average increase is seven percent per year and the same rate is maintained, then in ten years there will be double the number of vehicles using the roads.
Most of this increase will be in cities. In Tokyo during the four years 1969-73 traffic increased four times. As a result, the volume of traffic has become so great that traffic can barely move, especially at the beginning and end of the day. On the world's motorways average speeds of 80 kilometres per hour or more are possible. In many cities traffic crawls at 15 kilometres per hour and less.
Costly plans are being carried out to overcome the problems. There is no single solution; each city or part of a city has its own particular problem. There are three main plans to improve the movement of vehicles.
1. Improving public transport
The general plan is to make public transport more attractive to people travelling in cities so that they will want to use it. There would then be fewer private cars on the roads. So public transport could move more freely through the city. The present surface or underground railway lines in urban areas would be improved to attract more people. This would also reduce the number of road vehicles. A railway track can carry a maximum of about 50,000 people per hour. A single-lane* road can carry 3,000 people per hour.
In London a very complicated underground train system has developed which carries millions of passengers every year. This has helped reduce surface traffic problems. New extensions are being built to London's underground system to serve south-eastern suburbs. In San Francisco the motor car is the main means of transport. As travelling by car is becoming so difficult and slow, a new overhead railway system has been built to carry commuters. The system is known as the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. It is hoped that when the system is completed the number of private cars in San Francisco will be greatly reduced.
2. Moving businesses
Some city authorities have encouraged businesses to move away to smaller towns in an effort to reduce traffic in the cities. Other suggestions include charging high tolls on cars entering the city centres or even the drastic measure of banning private cars.
3. Improving road systems
This plan is to enable both public and private vehicles to move in cities by improving existing road systems. More off-street parking is made available. This is very expensive in cities because of the cost of land. The worst holdups at present are caused by cross roads. In many of the world's large cities traffic lights and counting systems are linked to a computer. The computer tells an operator in a remote control centre when to change the traffic lights to get the maximum movement of traffic. The controller is usually helped by a closed-circuit television camera focused on the road junction. Enlarging the cross roads can also increase movement. It is also possible to increase the speed of heavy traffic by relatively cheap modifications to existing roads.
single-lane - here: narrow, for one car
single-lane - here: narrow, for one car
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Klausimas #2
TRAVELLING IN CITIES
The first roads in cities
In the past, streets in cities were built for people to walk in or drive along in horse-drawn cabs. People usually walked to work because their home and place of work were close to one another. Today, the number of people working and visiting in cities has increased. The building of scycraper office blocks and tall shops has resulted in a greater concentration of people. As more and more people use cars to get to work and travel in cities, the old systems cannot cope with the volume of traffic.
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
|
Country |
Number of private motor cars (millions) | Population |
| United States | 97.0 | 200 |
| Great Britain | 11.2 | 51 |
| Spain | 4.0 | 32 |
| Sweden | 2.2 | 8 |
| West Pakistan | 0.06 | 43 |
The table shows how the problem of traffic congestion has been created in some countries. It is made worse in a country such as Britain where 80% of the population live in urban areas. Road traffic is increasing at between five to ten percent per year. If the average increase is seven percent per year and the same rate is maintained, then in ten years there will be double the number of vehicles using the roads.
Most of this increase will be in cities. In Tokyo during the four years 1969-73 traffic increased four times. As a result, the volume of traffic has become so great that traffic can barely move, especially at the beginning and end of the day. On the world's motorways average speeds of 80 kilometres per hour or more are possible. In many cities traffic crawls at 15 kilometres per hour and less.
Costly plans are being carried out to overcome the problems. There is no single solution; each city or part of a city has its own particular problem. There are three main plans to improve the movement of vehicles.
1. Improving public transport
The general plan is to make public transport more attractive to people travelling in cities so that they will want to use it. There would then be fewer private cars on the roads. So public transport could move more freely through the city. The present surface or underground railway lines in urban areas would be improved to attract more people. This would also reduce the number of road vehicles. A railway track can carry a maximum of about 50,000 people per hour. A single-lane* road can carry 3,000 people per hour.
In London a very complicated underground train system has developed which carries millions of passengers every year. This has helped reduce surface traffic problems. New extensions are being built to London's underground system to serve south-eastern suburbs. In San Francisco the motor car is the main means of transport. As travelling by car is becoming so difficult and slow, a new overhead railway system has been built to carry commuters. The system is known as the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. It is hoped that when the system is completed the number of private cars in San Francisco will be greatly reduced.
2. Moving businesses
Some city authorities have encouraged businesses to move away to smaller towns in an effort to reduce traffic in the cities. Other suggestions include charging high tolls on cars entering the city centres or even the drastic measure of banning private cars.
3. Improving road systems
This plan is to enable both public and private vehicles to move in cities by improving existing road systems. More off-street parking is made available. This is very expensive in cities because of the cost of land. The worst holdups at present are caused by cross roads. In many of the world's large cities traffic lights and counting systems are linked to a computer. The computer tells an operator in a remote control centre when to change the traffic lights to get the maximum movement of traffic. The controller is usually helped by a closed-circuit television camera focused on the road junction. Enlarging the cross roads can also increase movement. It is also possible to increase the speed of heavy traffic by relatively cheap modifications to existing roads.
single-lane - here: narrow, for one car
Which of the following ways of improving road systems are suggested in the last paragraph?
single-lane - here: narrow, for one car
Which of the following ways of improving road systems are suggested in the last paragraph?
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Klausimas #3
TRAVELLING IN CITIES
The first roads in cities
In the past, streets in cities were built for people to walk in or drive along in horse-drawn cabs. People usually walked to work because their home and place of work were close to one another. Today, the number of people working and visiting in cities has increased. The building of scycraper office blocks and tall shops has resulted in a greater concentration of people. As more and more people use cars to get to work and travel in cities, the old systems cannot cope with the volume of traffic.
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
|
Country |
Number of private motor cars (millions) | Population |
| United States | 97.0 | 200 |
| Great Britain | 11.2 | 51 |
| Spain | 4.0 | 32 |
| Sweden | 2.2 | 8 |
| West Pakistan | 0.06 | 43 |
The table shows how the problem of traffic congestion has been created in some countries. It is made worse in a country such as Britain where 80% of the population live in urban areas. Road traffic is increasing at between five to ten percent per year. If the average increase is seven percent per year and the same rate is maintained, then in ten years there will be double the number of vehicles using the roads.
Most of this increase will be in cities. In Tokyo during the four years 1969-73 traffic increased four times. As a result, the volume of traffic has become so great that traffic can barely move, especially at the beginning and end of the day. On the world's motorways average speeds of 80 kilometres per hour or more are possible. In many cities traffic crawls at 15 kilometres per hour and less.
Costly plans are being carried out to overcome the problems. There is no single solution; each city or part of a city has its own particular problem. There are three main plans to improve the movement of vehicles.
single-lane - here: narrow, for one car 1. Improving public transport
The general plan is to make public transport more attractive to people travelling in cities so that they will want to use it. There would then be fewer private cars on the roads. So public transport could move more freely through the city. The present surface or underground railway lines in urban areas would be improved to attract more people. This would also reduce the number of road vehicles. A railway track can carry a maximum of about 50,000 people per hour. A single-lane* road can carry 3,000 people per hour.
In London a very complicated underground train system has developed which carries millions of passengers every year. This has helped reduce surface traffic problems. New extensions are being built to London's underground system to serve south-eastern suburbs. In San Francisco the motor car is the main means of transport. As travelling by car is becoming so difficult and slow, a new overhead railway system has been built to carry commuters. The system is known as the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. It is hoped that when the system is completed the number of private cars in San Francisco will be greatly reduced.
2. Moving businesses
Some city authorities have encouraged businesses to move away to smaller towns in an effort to reduce traffic in the cities. Other suggestions include charging high tolls on cars entering the city centres or even the drastic measure of banning private cars.
3. Improving road systems
This plan is to enable both public and private vehicles to move in cities by improving existing road systems. More off-street parking is made available. This is very expensive in cities because of the cost of land. The worst holdups at present are caused by cross roads. In many of the world's large cities traffic lights and counting systems are linked to a computer. The computer tells an operator in a remote control centre when to change the traffic lights to get the maximum movement of traffic. The controller is usually helped by a closed-circuit television camera focused on the road junction. Enlarging the cross roads can also increase movement. It is also possible to increase the speed of heavy traffic by relatively cheap modifications to existing roads.
Which of the following measures, according to the articles have been taken or will be taken to improve transport situation in London and San Francisco?
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