As the number of cars increases, more money has to be spent on road systems. Some people think the government should pay for this. Others, however, think that the user should cover the costs. Discuss both views and give your opinion

Opinions diverge widely on who should be responsible for

road

maintenance

costs

due to the proliferation of private cars recently. While some people argue that those who use cars should shoulder the

responsibility

for the improvement of

road

systems, I believe that

such

costs

should be the liability of the government. The principal reason why

car

commuters should take the

responsibility

for these

costs

stems from their overuse of

roads

. Compared to other means of transport like a motorcycle, a

car

obviously not only occupies much more

road

space

,

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but

also

wears the

roads

more due to its larger size and weight. It was estimated in Thailand in 2015 that the number of private cars made up nearly 85% of total vehicles commuting on the

roads

to and from work.

As a result

, the need for the expansion and enhancement of

roads

is mainly to facilitate a more comfortable journey for

car

users.

Therefore

, it is reasonable to assign the

costs

to

car

owners to pay for the maintenance and enhancement of the

infrastructure

.

However

, I believe that the expenditure for

road

infrastructure

projects should be incurred by the government for the following reasons.

Firstly

, the main role of governments is to improve the citizens’ standard of living, and an efficient transportation system is just one of the residents’ basic needs. In fact, the efficiency in

road

transport is the backbone of a country’s economy, and

therefore

it would be wrong if governments did not give

this

top priority.

Secondly

, as in many countries,

car

buyers are charged an exorbitant amount of tax in order to own and drive a

car

on

roads

, and

therefore

it is unfair to solely lay the

responsibility

for

road

upgrade works on them.

For example

, people in Vietnam have to pay almost twice as much to own a

car

than in other countries since taxes and fees account for 40-50% of

car

prices.

Therefore

, it is better to use these taxes for

road

infrastructure

investment, rather than forcing citizens to pay for it. In conclusion,

although

the argument in favour of

road

infrastructure

costs

belonging to

car

owners might be convincing to some extent, I think that the government should be the one to take full

responsibility

for

this

.