Academic Writing Task 1 · bar chart

Incidents and Injuries per 100 Million Passenger Miles Traveled in 2002

The chart below shows several incidents and injuries per 100 million passenger miles traveled (PMT) by transportation type in 2002.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Incidents and Injuries per 100 Million PMT, 2002 (No. per 100 million PMT)

Incidents
Injuries

View the data

	Commuter Rail	Heavy Rail	Light Rail	Bus	Demand Respond
Incidents	20	50	75	75	225
Injuries	17	35	38	65	172

Chart redrawn by BandLadder from the data in the original IELTS practice task. Many IELTS practice tasks come from the Cambridge IELTS series (Cambridge University Press & Assessment); all rights in the original tasks remain with their owners.

Band 8 sample answer

The bar chart illustrates the frequency of incidents and injuries per 100 million passenger miles traveled (PMT) across five distinct transportation categories in 2002. Overall, it is evident that Demand Respond services were the most hazardous, whereas Commuter Rail was the safest mode of transport.

Demand Respond recorded the highest figures by a substantial margin, with 225 incidents and 172 injuries per 100 million PMT. In contrast, Commuter Rail reported the lowest rates, with 20 incidents and 17 injuries. The remaining categories showed moderate figures. Heavy Rail, Light Rail, and Bus services all exhibited lower incident and injury rates than Demand Respond but higher than Commuter Rail.

Specifically, Light Rail and Bus services shared an identical incident rate of 75 per 100 million PMT. However, Bus services resulted in a higher number of injuries at 65, compared to 38 for Light Rail. Heavy Rail occupied a middle position, reporting 50 incidents and 35 injuries. Across all categories, the number of incidents consistently exceeded the number of injuries, with the most pronounced gap observed in the Demand Respond sector, where the difference reached 53 units.

184 words. Every figure in the answer comes from the chart above.

How to write about bar charts

Compare the biggest and smallest bars before anything else.
If the bars show years, describe change; if they show places, describe rank.
Round sensibly and say 'just over' or 'nearly' rather than guessing decimals.

substantial: of considerable importance, size, or worth
pronounced: very noticeable or marked; conspicuous
exhibited: manifested or displayed a quality or type of behavior
identical: similar in every detail; exactly alike
consistently: in every case or on every occasion
margin: the amount by which one thing is different from another

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Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

Demand Respond transportation experienced significantly higher rates of both incidents and injuries compared to all other modes, while Commuter Rail recorded the lowest figures.

How long should an IELTS Task 1 answer be?

At least 150 words; 170 to 200 is the safe range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

How do I describe bar charts?

Compare the biggest and smallest bars before anything else. If the bars show years, describe change; if they show places, describe rank. Round sensibly and say 'just over' or 'nearly' rather than guessing decimals.