Transport and traffic: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Warm-up: close to home

1. Cause and effect

   Why do you think traffic has become such a problem in many cities?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   The root of it is that car ownership has grown far faster than road space, since as people become better off, a car is one of the first things they buy. Poor planning makes it worse, because when homes are built on the edge of a city with no decent public transport, people have no choice but to drive into the centre every day. The result is gridlock at rush hour, which wastes huge amounts of time, pollutes the air and eventually makes driving so unpleasant that the whole city starts looking for alternatives.

   The root of it is

   the basic cause of the problem is

   become better off

   become richer

   have no choice but to

   are forced to do something

   94 words · about 41 seconds spoken

Development: society

1. Compare

   How has the way people travel changed compared with the past?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   A generation or two ago, most people travelled on foot, by bicycle or on crowded trains, and a long journey was a major event that might be planned weeks in advance. Today, travel is far more frequent and casual, with people commuting long distances by car and flying abroad for a weekend break without thinking twice about it. Rising incomes and cheaper flights explain a lot of it, but so does the internet, because booking a trip or checking a route now takes seconds, which has made distance feel much less of a barrier.

   planned weeks in advance

   organised many weeks before it happened

   without thinking twice about it

   without hesitating or considering it carefully

   much less of a barrier

   a smaller obstacle than before

   94 words · about 41 seconds spoken

2. Pros and cons

   Do you think public transport is better than travelling by car?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Public transport has clear advantages for society as a whole, since a single bus or train can carry dozens of people using a fraction of the road space and fuel that all those cars would. From an individual's point of view, though, a car is hard to beat, because it takes you door to door whenever you like, which matters a lot if you're carrying shopping or travelling with small children. Taking both into account, public transport is the better choice in dense cities where it's frequent and reliable, but in rural areas the car is often the only practical option.

   society as a whole

   everyone together, rather than individuals

   hard to beat

   better than most alternatives

   door to door

   directly from your starting point to your destination

   101 words · about 44 seconds spoken

3. Opinion

   What could be done to reduce traffic in busy areas?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   The most effective step, in my opinion, would be to make the alternatives so good that driving stops being the obvious choice. People rarely abandon their cars because they're told to, but they will switch if a train or bus is faster, cheaper and more comfortable. A city near mine introduced dedicated bus lanes and buses every few minutes on its main routes, and within a year the number of cars coming into the centre had dropped noticeably. Better transport takes years to build, however, so in the meantime measures like staggered working hours or letting more people work from home could ease the worst of the rush hour.

   stops being the obvious choice

   is no longer what people automatically choose

   in the meantime

   while waiting for something else to happen

   ease the worst of

   reduce the most serious part of

   109 words · about 47 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. Opinion

   Should governments make it more expensive to drive private cars?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   I'm broadly in favour, as long as it's done fairly. At the moment, drivers don't pay for most of the damage they cause, such as congestion, pollution and road accidents, so raising the cost simply makes the price reflect reality. Several big cities have introduced a daily charge for driving into the centre, and traffic in those areas fell considerably soon afterwards. The danger, though, is that it turns driving into a privilege for the wealthy, so any extra charges should be paired with cheaper public transport and exemptions for people like carers or disabled drivers who genuinely need a car.

   broadly in favour

   generally supportive of an idea

   makes the price reflect reality

   makes the cost match the true harm

   a privilege for the wealthy

   something only rich people can enjoy

   101 words · about 44 seconds spoken

2. The future

   How do you think people will travel in the future?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   I imagine cities will rely much more on electric and shared vehicles, and possibly self-driving taxis that you summon with your phone rather than owning a car yourself. Owning a car that sits parked for most of the day makes less and less sense as cities get more crowded, and the technology for sharing and automation is improving quickly. That said, predictions about transport have a habit of being wrong, and I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest change turned out to be something modest, like far more people cycling or just travelling less because they work remotely.

   makes less and less sense

   becomes increasingly unreasonable

   have a habit of being wrong

   often turn out to be incorrect

   I wouldn't be surprised if

   I think it is quite possible that

   98 words · about 43 seconds spoken

3. What if

   If cars were banned from city centres, what would the effects be?

   8
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If cars were kept out of city centres, the most immediate change would be streets that were quieter, safer and far more pleasant to stroll around. Shops and cafés would probably benefit from the extra foot traffic, and space that's currently taken up by parking could be turned into seating, trees and play areas. Further afield, though, it could push congestion onto the surrounding roads, and people who depend on driving, like delivery firms or elderly residents, would need well-designed exceptions, otherwise the centre could become harder to reach for the very people who need it most.

   the extra foot traffic

   more people walking past

   Further afield

   in places further away

   the very people who need it most

   exactly those with the greatest need

   97 words · about 42 seconds spoken

4. Pros and cons

   Is it realistic to expect people to give up their cars?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   In big cities with good public transport, it's perfectly realistic, and in fact plenty of young people there are already choosing not to own one at all. Elsewhere, it's a much harder ask, because cars are tied up with freedom and status for many people, and in rural areas there's often no practical way to get to work or the shops without one. So rather than expecting people to give them up entirely, the more achievable goal is to get them using their cars less, perhaps for the occasional long trip rather than every short errand.

   a much harder ask

   something more difficult to request or achieve

   tied up with

   closely connected to

   the occasional long trip

   a long journey now and then

   96 words · about 42 seconds spoken