Transport is one of the most predictable IELTS topics. In Writing Task 2, you may be asked whether public transport should be free, whether drivers should pay to enter the city centre, why the growth in air travel is a problem and who should pay for new roads and railways. In Speaking Part 3, the examiner asks you to compare how people got around in the past with how they travel today, and to predict whether weâll still need cars in twenty years.
In this topic, what lets writers down isnât a lack of words but a single adjective. Many learners write big traffic, and the examiner spots a non-native writer in the very first line. Traffic is the flow of vehicles, and itâs heavy or light, not big or small. The topic has several spots like this: public transport without a, journey rather than travel, arrive in rather than arrive to.
Below are 29 collocations on the topic with Band 7-level examples, the mistakes learners most often make with them, and an example of how LetsWords gives feedback on a sentence you write. Youâll find the other exam topics in IELTS vocabulary by topic.
Transport: words and collocations
Traffic and commuting
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| heavy traffic | a lot of vehicles on the road | Heavy traffic adds almost an hour to many peopleâs working day. |
| traffic congestion | roads blocked by too many vehicles | Traffic congestion costs the economy billions in lost working hours. |
| a traffic jam | a line of vehicles that can hardly move | An accident on the motorway caused a ten-mile traffic jam. |
| at rush hour | at the busiest times of day | Trains into the city centre are packed at rush hour. |
| commute to work | to travel to work regularly | Millions of people commute to work by car every day. |
| get stuck in traffic | to be unable to move because of traffic | Drivers who get stuck in traffic every morning are more likely to switch to the train. |
| journey times | how long it takes to get somewhere | The new line has cut journey times between the two cities by half. |
| ease congestion | to reduce the amount of traffic | Building more roads rarely eases congestion for long. |
Public transport
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| public transport | buses, trains and trams anyone can use | Good public transport allows people to live without a car. |
| a reliable public transport system | public transport that runs as promised | A reliable public transport system is essential for a growing city. |
| rely on public transport | to depend on buses and trains | Elderly people often rely on public transport to get to medical appointments. |
| run frequently | to come often (of buses and trains) | Buses that run frequently attract far more passengers. |
| affordable fares | ticket prices people can pay | Affordable fares encourage students to leave their cars at home. |
| subsidise public transport | to pay part of its costs from public money | Many governments subsidise public transport to keep fares low. |
| invest in public transport | to spend money on improving it | Cities that invest in public transport tend to have cleaner air. |
| the rail network | a countryâs system of railways | The countryâs rail network has hardly been modernised since the 1970s. |
Cars and alternatives
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| car ownership | having your own car | Car ownership has fallen among young people in some European cities. |
| private cars | cars owned by individuals | Private cars take up a huge amount of space in city centres. |
| a congestion charge | a fee for driving into a city centre | A congestion charge makes drivers think twice before entering the centre. |
| cycle lanes | parts of the road reserved for bikes | Separate cycle lanes make cycling safer for children. |
| car sharing | renting or sharing cars instead of owning one | Car sharing reduces the number of vehicles on the road. |
| switch to electric vehicles | to start using electric cars | Switching to electric vehicles will not solve the problem of congestion. |
| vehicle emissions | gases released by cars and lorries | Vehicle emissions are a major cause of air pollution in cities. |
Safety and long-distance travel
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| road safety | protecting people from road accidents | Lower speed limits near schools improve road safety. |
| road accidents | crashes on the road | Most road accidents are caused by human error. |
| enforce speed limits | to make sure drivers obey speed limits | Speed cameras are a cheap way to enforce speed limits. |
| air travel | travelling by plane | Air travel has become affordable for ordinary families. |
| long-haul flights | flights over very long distances | Long-haul flights produce a large share of a touristâs carbon footprint. |
| high-speed rail | very fast train lines | High-speed rail is a realistic alternative to short domestic flights. |
Common mistakes
1. Big traffic
In big cities there is big traffic in the morning.
In big cities the traffic is heavy in the morning. / In big cities there are traffic jams every morning.
Traffic is the flow of vehicles, an uncountable noun. Itâs heavy or light. If you mean one particular hold-up, you need a traffic jam.
2. Articles with transport
More people should use a public transport and go to work by the bus.
More people should use public transport and go to work by bus.
In British English, public transport is uncountable, so it doesnât take a. After by, the type of transport has no article: by bus, by train, by car. With an article, you say on the bus.
3. Arrive to
Many commuters arrive to the city centre late because of traffic jams.
Many commuters arrive in the city centre late because of traffic jams.
When you say where someone arrives, the preposition isnât to. You arrive in a city or a large area and arrive at a building or a specific point: arrive at the station. If you want a verb with a direct object, use reach: reach the city centre. The difference is explained in the arrive vs reach exercise.
4. âMy travel to workâ
My travel to work takes an hour and a half.
My journey to work takes an hour and a half. / My commute takes an hour and a half.
The noun travel means travelling in general, not one specific trip. Getting from A to B is a journey, and your daily trip to work is your commute. The difference is explained in the travel, trip or journey exercise.
How LetsWords explains mistakes like these
While youâre reading a table, every word looks familiar. The mistakes appear when you write. Hereâs what one task in LetsWords looks like.
Youâre reviewing ease congestion. LetsWords shows you its meaning in your native language, you recall the English expression and write a sentence about a congestion charge:
A congestion charge can ease congestion, because fewer people will go to the centre by the car and the traffic will be less big.
The feedback, which LetsWords gives in your native language, points out two mistakes:
- by the car â by car: after by, the type of transport has no article, and itâs even shorter to say drive into the centre;
- less big â lighter: traffic isnât big or small, itâs heavy or light.
A congestion charge can ease congestion, because fewer people will drive into the centre and traffic will become lighter.
A few days later, the expression comes back in review, and you use it in a new situation, for example in a Speaking answer about your city. Thatâs how a collocation from a list becomes one you can pull from memory and write without a mistake.
Start practising with feedback on your mistakes
When you sign up, you choose IELTS as your goal and pick your level, and LetsWords sets up your practice. You can try the feedback before you pay.
Using these collocations in Writing Task 2
An exam-style task:
Some people believe that the best way to reduce traffic in cities is to make public transport free. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
A model paragraph with the writerâs position:
Making public transport free would certainly attract some drivers, but it would not by itself ease congestion. Most people choose a car not because fares are high, but because buses and trains do not take them where they need to go quickly. If a reliable public transport system does not exist, even a zero fare will not persuade commuters to leave their cars at home. A more effective approach is to invest in public transport first, so that services run frequently and journey times are competitive with driving, and then to discourage car use with a congestion charge. This tackles both sides of the problem: driving becomes less attractive, the alternative more attractive, and heavy traffic in the centre gradually becomes the exception rather than the rule.
Why this paragraph works. The position is clear from the first sentence and holds to the end: free fares alone wonât help. Next comes the reason (people choose speed, not price) and an alternative with a clear mechanism. The vocabulary is recognisably about transport but avoids rare words: the examiner sees precise collocations used exactly where they belong, and thatâs what Lexical Resource rewards.
Using them in Speaking
Part 3 question: Do you think people will use cars less in the future?
To some extent, yes. In my city, car ownership is already becoming less attractive for young people, because parking is expensive and car sharing is available almost everywhere. That said, I donât think cars will disappear. People will probably switch to electric vehicles rather than give up driving altogether, especially in the suburbs, where buses donât run frequently enough.
The answer states a position straight away, backs it up with two reasons and adds a reservation with that said. Thatâs what an extended Part 3 answer sounds like, rather than a short âyesâ or ânoâ.
Practise for free
- travel, trip or journey: travelling in general, a visit and getting there;
- get stuck: being trapped in traffic;
- arrive vs reach: which one needs a preposition, and why it isnât to;
- run late: being behind schedule;
- in time vs on time: early enough vs exactly as scheduled;
- solve a problem: finding a solution, and the patterns to use;
- effective vs efficient: getting results vs saving time and money.
From the list to real use
A list helps you recognise ease congestion, but in the exam you have to pull it from memory in a second and build it straight into your argument. Move from the list to real use with LetsWords: work through an IELTS set for your level and add collocations from this page to your collection, such as traffic congestion or invest in public transport. You recall each expression from a prompt and write a sentence with it, LetsWords points out the mistake and explains it in your native language (Russian, Korean or Vietnamese), and spaced repetition brings the expression back until it comes naturally. Then test your vocabulary in a full text: the IELTS Writing section has Task 2 prompts in the Cities and transport topic, on traffic jams, public transport and cars in city centres, and a full answer gets detailed feedback on all four criteria, tied to what you actually wrote. When you sign up, you answer a few questions about your goal and level, and LetsWords sets up your practice; you can try the feedback before you pay. Youâll find the other exam topics in IELTS vocabulary by topic.