The problem of traffic congestion in Athens has been testing the ingenuity of politicians and town planners for years. But the measures adopted to date have not succeeded in decreasing the number of cars on the road in the city centre. In $1980,$ an odds and evens number-plate legislation was introduced, under which odd and even plates were banned in the city centre on alternate days, thereby expecting to halve the number of cars in the city centre. Then in $1993$ it was decreed that all cars in use in the city centre must be fitted with catalytic converters; a regulation had just then been introduced, substantially reducing import taxes on cars with catalytic converters, the only condition being that the buyer of such a ‘clean’ car offered for destruction a car at least $15$ years old.
Which one of the following options, if true, would best support the claim that the measures adopted to date have not succeeded?
- In the $1980$s, many families purchased second cars with the requisite odd or even number plate.
- In the mid-$1990$s, many families found it feasible to become first-time car owners by buying a car more than $15$ years old and turning it in for a new car with catalytic converters.
- Post-$1993$, many families seized the opportunity to sell their more than $15$ yearold cars and buy ‘clean’ cars from the open market, even if it meant forgoing the import tax subsidy.
- All of the above.