toll
/toʊl/Money you must pay in order to use a particular road, bridge or tunnel.
Example: You pay a small toll to cross the bridge.
C122 words · Advanced
Road & Rail vocabulary — C1
Road and rail vocabulary for transport engineering, including a toll, an interchange and mass transit, plus light rail, a monorail and a level crossing.
22 questions
Words in this set
22puncture
/ˈpʌŋktʃər/A small hole in a tyre that lets the air escape and leaves it flat.
Example:
I got a puncture on the way home and had no spare.
roadworthy
In good enough condition to be driven safely and legally.
Example:
The old van was no longer roadworthy.
tailback
A long queue of traffic caused by an obstruction ahead.
Example:
There was a three-mile tailback after the accident.
roadside assistance
Help sent to drivers whose vehicle has broken down away from home.
Example:
We called roadside assistance when the car wouldn't start.
hazard lights
Flashing signals used to warn other drivers of danger or a problem.
Example:
He turned on his hazard lights after the breakdown.
congestion charge
A payment some cities require drivers to make for entering busy areas by car.
Example:
Drivers must pay the congestion charge to enter the city centre.
defensive driving
A cautious approach to controlling a vehicle, always expecting possible dangers ahead.
Example:
The course teaches defensive driving to new employees.
aquaplane
When a car's tyres lose contact with a wet road and slide uncontrollably.
Example:
The car began to aquaplane in the heavy rain.
verge
/vɜrdʒ/The narrow strip of grass at the edge of a road.
Example:
He pulled over onto the verge to check the map.
cable car
A vehicle that hangs from a thick steel wire and takes people up a mountain or across a valley.
Example:
The cable car takes eight minutes to reach the top.
interchange
/ˌɪntərˈtʃeɪndʒ/A large station where several routes meet and passengers change between them.
Example:
Get off at the interchange and take the northbound line.
mass transit
Public transport systems designed to move large numbers of people, like subways and buses.
Example:
The city invested heavily in mass transit.
light rail
A type of urban train system that is smaller-scale than a full underground or national network.
Example:
The new light rail line connects the airport to downtown.
monorail
/ˈmɑnərˌeɪl/A raised urban train system that runs along a single elevated track.
Example:
Visitors can ride the monorail across the theme park.
multimodal
Involving more than one type of transport in a single journey.
Example:
The new hub allows multimodal journeys between train, bus and bike.
decongest
To reduce crowding or traffic in a place.
Example:
The new line was built to decongest the busy city centre.
patronage
/ˈpætrənɪdʒ/The number of customers who use a service regularly.
Example:
Bus patronage fell sharply during the pandemic.
accessibility
/ˌæksɛsəˈbɪlɪti/The quality of being easy to reach, enter or use, especially for disabled people.
Example:
The council promised to improve station accessibility.
throughput
/ˈθruˌpʊt/The amount of people or things a system can carry or process in a given time.
Example:
The new gates increased passenger throughput at rush hour.
level crossing
The place where a road goes straight across a railway, with barriers that close when a train approaches.
Example:
The barriers at the level crossing stay down for ages.
derail
/dɪˈreɪl/To come off the metal lines that a train runs along, usually causing a crash.
Example:
Heavy flooding caused the last carriage to derail near the bridge.
