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1. Transportation Problems in Ulaanbaatar
When you think of Mongolia, I’m sure the first thing that conjures into your head is an
image of vast landscapes, nomadic horsemen and the famous historical warrior
Chinggis Khan (Ghengis Khan to foreigners). Therefore, you might find it hard to believe
I am writing a story about traffic jams. Pollution and traffic jams caused by cars are a big
problem in the capital, Ulaanbaatar (UB). Who would have thought, in a country with so
much land, we would be facing this predicament? Traffic is one of the biggest causes of
stress in UB at the moment.
Mongolia has a population of three million. The population density is only 1.76 people
per km2; very sparse. Mongolia is about three times larger than France and almost as
large as Queensland in Australia. But one million people are concentrated in UB; one
third of the whole population.
Because a lot of nomads and people of the countryside move to the city for more
opportunities to earn a living, Ulaanbaatar is growing faster than the center can
accommodate the extra people. The life of a nomad is hard, and there is no guarantee
of a profit at the end of all the hard work. It is easy for them to lose their whole capital,
their animals, in one day. If the weather isn’t favorite to animals, which is often in this
harsh climate, the livestock will die of starvation, or extreme cold. On one bad the
weather day, nomadic farmers could lose everything. So, they decide to move to the big
city in search of a sturdy salary and begin to work like urban people. Also, nowadays,
the younger nomad generation wants to study in the big city, and prefer being ‘modern
citizen’ as opposed to ‘steppe dweller’. These nomads ‘making the move’ don’t
understand that their life will become much more stressful, especially with the lack of
space available to move around.
Congestion is terrible in the center. Cars are everywhere, and pedestrians find it hard to
find an opening to cross the rolling masses of steel. There aren’t enough highways to
accommodate for the growing city population; a population where almost everyone has
a car. There is public transportation in the form of buses, but no subway to avoid the
traffic. During the morning getting-to-work rush, lunchtime and at the end of work, traffic
jams are inevitable. This causes stress, depression, and poor health from pollution. It is
impossible to use ‘open’ vehicles such as motorbikes and bicycles in Mongolia, because
the weather is too harsh: UB is the coldest capital city in the word. So the only choice is
a car or an overcrowded, non-air-conditioned public bus. Also, roads are often
destroyed by severe weather conditions, including dust storms, snow and frost.
Therefore, not only are traffic jams a problem, but because of the condition of the roads,
they are getting worse. Drivable areas on the road are decreasing due to large potholes
and cracks.
One of the best solutions for relieving the strains caused by transportation and
environmental problems within urban cities is to increase the amount of public
transportation in urban areas. Making public transportation more readily available
provides people with an alternative to owning a car. More trolleys, trains and buses
could relieve current transportation strains.