Use of English

Urban Transport History

The history of public transport is closely (0) LINKED to the growth of modern cities. As urban populations expanded in the nineteenth century, walking alone was no longer enough to (1) .......... with the daily movement of thousands of people. Early horse-drawn buses and trams helped to (2) .......... the pressure, but they were often slow, crowded and expensive to maintain. The arrival of electric tramways marked a major turning (3) .........., as cities could now move large numbers of passengers more efficiently. Later, underground railways transformed travel still further by allowing people to avoid the congestion at street level. As transport networks developed, they also had a profound (4) .......... on the shape of cities. Suburbs began to grow because workers were no longer forced to live within walking distance of their jobs. In many places, governments and private companies worked side (5) .......... side to expand routes and improve reliability. However, not every innovation was welcomed at first. Some critics claimed that faster systems would (6) .......... about social disruption or damage traditional neighbourhoods. Even so, public transport has continued to evolve, and modern planners often look back at earlier systems to (7) .......... lessons from them. Their aim is not only to move people around, but also to cut pollution and ease traffic, goals that are now widely regarded (8) .......... essential in any major city.