Text 1Urban development critics argue that transit-oriented development policies face significant implementation challenges that undermine their effec...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Urban development critics argue that transit-oriented development policies face significant implementation challenges that undermine their effectiveness. While these policies concentrate high-density housing near transit stations to reduce car dependence, critics note that successful outcomes require coordinated infrastructure investments and comprehensive planning that many municipalities struggle to provide.
Text 2
Transportation researcher Dr. Elena Rodriguez conducted a comprehensive study of transit-oriented developments across fifteen metropolitan areas between 2018-2022. Her analysis confirmed that projects lacking adequate supporting infrastructure showed limited success in reducing automobile usage. However, Rodriguez found that cities providing complementary investments—enhanced transit frequency, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements—achieved substantial reductions in car dependence, validating the policy approach when properly implemented.
Based on the texts, how would Dr. Rodriguez (Text 2) most likely respond to the critics' argument in Text 1?
By questioning whether the critics have sufficient data to evaluate infrastructure coordination challenges
By agreeing that implementation challenges are real while demonstrating that comprehensive planning achieves the intended outcomes
By disputing the critics' assumption that transit-oriented development requires coordinated infrastructure investments
By arguing that the critics focus too heavily on municipal planning capacity rather than resident behavior patterns
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Urban development critics argue that transit-oriented development policies face significant implementation challenges that undermine their effectiveness." |
|
| "While these policies concentrate high-density housing near transit stations to reduce car dependence, critics note that successful outcomes require coordinated infrastructure investments and comprehensive planning that many municipalities struggle to provide." |
|
| "Transportation researcher Dr. Elena Rodriguez conducted a comprehensive study of transit-oriented developments across fifteen metropolitan areas between 2018-2022." |
|
| "Her analysis confirmed that projects lacking adequate supporting infrastructure showed limited success in reducing automobile usage." |
|
| "However, Rodriguez found that cities providing complementary investments—enhanced transit frequency, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements—achieved substantial reductions in car dependence, validating the policy approach when properly implemented." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: While critics argue that transit-oriented development faces implementation challenges, Dr. Rodriguez research shows that these policies can be highly effective when cities provide comprehensive supporting infrastructure.
Argument Flow: Text 1 presents critics who argue that transit-oriented development policies struggle with implementation challenges because they require coordinated infrastructure investments that many cities cannot provide. Text 2 introduces Dr. Rodriguez research, which actually validates both parts of the critics argument—confirming that poor implementation leads to limited success, but demonstrating that proper implementation with comprehensive infrastructure does achieve the intended outcomes.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? How Dr. Rodriguez would most likely respond to the critics argument in Text 1
What type of answer do we need? Rodriguez likely response or position relative to the critics concerns
Any limiting keywords? "most likely" suggests we need the response that best fits with Rodriguez research findings
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Based on our analysis, Rodriguez research actually does two things relative to the critics argument
- First, her findings confirm that the critics are right about implementation challenges being real—she found that projects without adequate infrastructure had limited success
- But second, her research also shows that when cities do provide proper infrastructure and planning, these policies work really well
- So Rodriguez would likely acknowledge that the critics have identified a real problem, but she would also want to demonstrate that this does not mean the policies themselves are flawed—just that they need to be implemented correctly
By questioning whether the critics have sufficient data to evaluate infrastructure coordination challenges
- This suggests Rodriguez would question the critics data or evidence
- But Rodriguez own research actually confirms what the critics are saying about implementation challenges
- She does not dispute their observations—she builds on them
By agreeing that implementation challenges are real while demonstrating that comprehensive planning achieves the intended outcomes
- This perfectly captures Rodriguez dual response to the critics
- She would agree that implementation challenges are real (her research confirms projects without infrastructure had limited success)
- But she would also show that comprehensive planning achieves the intended outcomes (cities with proper infrastructure saw substantial reductions in car dependence)
- This matches exactly how her research both validates and extends the critics concerns
By disputing the critics' assumption that transit-oriented development requires coordinated infrastructure investments
- This suggests Rodriguez would dispute that coordinated infrastructure is necessary
- But her research actually confirms this requirement—she found that success came specifically from complementary investments in transit, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements
By arguing that the critics focus too heavily on municipal planning capacity rather than resident behavior patterns
- Rodriguez research does not focus on resident behavior patterns
- Her study examined infrastructure investments and their outcomes, not how residents behave
- This introduces a completely different angle that is not present in Rodriguez research