Cities are becoming more and more congested and polluted as the number of private cars increases. What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning a car?

The causes of environmental degradation and their consequences on health have become a serious concern in recent times. The Increased poor quality of air is a particularly popular topic. The use of vehicles powered by internal combustion has been identified as the chief contributor to the contamination of the atmosphere. Personal vehicle ownership has its pros and cons; which will be discussed in the proceeding paragraphs. Again, the

Firstly

, one advantage associated with driving your own car is convenience. You get to control your schedule as opposed to using public transportation.

For example

, someone who rides to work by public transport will have to get ready to meet the bus at a specific location at the appointed time or risk missing the bus. Another merit of owning a vehicle is privacy. It affords one the opportunity to control and manage their personal space while in transit as they please; a luxury you can not get if you are using a train.

On the other hand

, driving yourself comes with the disadvantage of maintenance costs. Maintenance, no matter how minute, cost money which could have been used for other expenses. For example, a car owner may have to budget as much as $200 for maintenance on a monthly basis, whereas, a person commuting by public transport would not. Another point is that, if every citizen were to provide for themself a means of moving about, the level of greenhouse gases emitted would skyrocket and most likely the roads will be persistently congested. A very good example is the situation in metropolitan cities. The air quality is bad and traffic jams are ubiquitous. In summary, vehicle ownership can be a convenience and give the comfort of privacy preservation.

However

, the drawback is that the risk of increased pollution and road congestion is high. It is ,

therefore

, necessary that society should find the balance.