Car Parking!

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Car Parking!

by gmat_perfect » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:03 am
A certain mayor has proposed a fee of five dollars per day on private vehicles entering the city, claiming that the fee will alleviate the city's traffic congestion. The mayor reasons that, since the fee will exceed the cost of round-trip bus fare from many nearby points, many people will switch from using their cars to using the bus.

Which of the following statements, if true, provides the best evidence that the mayor's reasoning is flawed?

(A) Projected increases in the price of gasoline will increase the cost of taking a private vehicle into the city.
(B) The cost of parking fees already makes it considerably more expensive for most people to take a private vehicle into the city than to take a bus.
(C) Most of the people currently riding the bus do not own private vehicles.
(D) Many commuters opposing the mayor's plan have indicated that they would rather endure traffic congestion than pay a five-dollar-per day fee.
(E) During the average workday, private vehicles owned and operated by people living within the city account for twenty percent of the city's traffic congestion.

[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]

Why NOT E, and why it's the OA?
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by abhigang » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:16 am
gmat_perfect wrote:A certain mayor has proposed a fee of five dollars per day on private vehicles entering the city, claiming that the fee will alleviate the city's traffic congestion. The mayor reasons that, since the fee will exceed the cost of round-trip bus fare from many nearby points, many people will switch from using their cars to using the bus.

Which of the following statements, if true, provides the best evidence that the mayor's reasoning is flawed?

(A) Projected increases in the price of gasoline will increase the cost of taking a private vehicle into the city.
(B) The cost of parking fees already makes it considerably more expensive for most people to take a private vehicle into the city than to take a bus.
(C) Most of the people currently riding the bus do not own private vehicles.
(D) Many commuters opposing the mayor's plan have indicated that they would rather endure traffic congestion than pay a five-dollar-per day fee.
(E) During the average workday, private vehicles owned and operated by people living within the city account for twenty percent of the city's traffic congestion.

[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]

Why NOT E, and why it's the OA?
If you notice carefully the highlighted portion of the argument, the mayor builds his argument on the vehicles entering the city. E actually says about people living in the city accounts for only 20% of the traffic. The rest may be by people entering the city. Hence, implementing the fee structure can have its desired effects. In a way, it is strenghtening mayor's argument.

What what B says is, that parking fees are already high and therefore many people prefer riding the bus into the city to driving their own cars. . Thus there are already less number of people coming into the city with their vehicles. Hence implementing Mayor's proposal will have least effect. Thus , B points out the flaw in the mayors argument.

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by gmat_perfect » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:29 am
Yes, I got it.

Thanks.

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by beatthegmatinsept » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:51 am
Well explained abhigang.
Another reason I'd eliminate E is that it specifically talks about 'average workday' and nowhere in the arguement does the author mention traffic on a workday or a weekend. I eliminated E for that reason first. :)
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