Question: The pie charts above show the main methods of transportation for people travelling to one university for work or study in 2004 and 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Band 8+ Sample Answer:
(Intro & Overview) The two pie charts give information about how students and staff commuted to one university in 2004 and 2009. Overall, the two most popular modes of transportation in the two years were buses and cars. However car use underwent a dramatic fall and the proportion of commuters using buses increased significantly. Bicycle use also witnessed a rise, whereas walking and the percentage of people using trains remained relatively insignificant.
(Detail 1) In 2004, travelling by car was the most popular means of transport at 51%, with bus use in second place with 33%. By 2009, there had been a dramatic fall in car use, nearly doubling to 28%, whereas the percentage of bus users surged to 46%, which was an increase of nearly a third. It seems possible that these changing trends were due to a new bus stop which was built in 2006 and subsequent changes to car parking in 2008.
(Detail 2) People also showed a greater tendency towards riding a bike to university with the percentage growing from 9% to 16%. Finally, slightly more people used the train and went on foot, with a 1% rise for trains, and a 2% rise for walking, finishing up in 2009 at 4% and 6% respectively, but clearly these two methods remained insignificant. (209 words)
Words: Nick Kemp, former IELTS examiner.
Image: Cambridge