Part 4. Asia's cities face gridlock.

Keywords. Asia's cities, gridlock, mass transit systems, car sales, problems.

Vocabulary. gridlock, lure, aggravate, snarl, implement.

A. You're going to hear a report on experts discussing the traffic problems Asian's big cities face.

Complete the exercises while listening to the first part of the report.

Asian cities boosted by economic prosperity, especially in China and India are facing increasing gridlock unless urgent measures to promote mass transit systems are promoted.

This was the warning Tuesday from transport analysts during a regional conference in Bangkok on sustainable transporation and air quality.

More than 100 transport specialists from 10 countries at the the conference, say the solution lies in providing better public transporation system to lure car owners away from driving.

B. Now listen to the whole report, finish the exercises.

Asia cities, boosted by economic prosperity, especially in China and India, are facing increasing gridlock unless urgent measures to promote mass transit systems are promoted.

This was the warning Tuesday from transport analysts during a regional conference in Bangkok on sustainable transportation and air quality.

More than 100 transport specialists from 10 countries at the conference, say the solution lies in providing better public transportation systems to lure car owners away from driving.

Heather Allen, a manager with the International Association of Public Transport, says Asian cities need to stress transport systems over private car use.t

At the moment, I think anywhere in the world, the energy issue is very firmly on the table.

And the energy efficiency of public transport, our experience and our research shows that on average you can go twice as far using public transport as you can with a private individual car.

Asia's love affair with the car appears very strong.

In India, car sales in September were up almost 10%, while in China, vehicle sales were up 33% from a year ago to 354,000 units.

Both countries have booming economies and growing middle classes.

But experts say such growth aggravates the problems of increasingly crowded cities.

Axel Friedrich from Germany's Federal Environment Agency says such growth cannot be sustained as traffic snarls increase in cities.

Also he says, more private cars aggravate pollution problems and increase economic costs.

Because workers and cargo get stuck on jammed roads.

Transport analysts say that new systems such as underground railways are often too expensive and provide low returns to investors and governments.

The most efficient systems and fastest to implement are bus systems.

But Mr Friedrich says governments often face local political and business interests when trying to put in place such efficient, low-cost transport systems.