Highway

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A rural highway in the United States of America.

The Pan-American Highway, in the Peruvian town of Máncora, where it serves as the main street.

The A2 in Poland.

The Yat-sen Freeway in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo, Japan.

Highway is a term commonly used to designate major roads intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as cities. The term highway can also be varied country-to-country, and can be referred to a road, freeway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, parkway, expressway, autostrasse, autostrada, byway, auto-estrada or motorway.

Highway designs vary widely. They can include some characteristics of grade separations, multiple lanes of traffic, a median between lanes of opposing traffic, and access control (ramps and grade separation). Highways can also be as simple as a two-lane, shoulderless road.

The United States has the largest network of national highways, including Interstate highways and United States Numbered Highways. This network is present in every state and connects all major cities. China has the second largest highway system in the world.

According to world views, the characteristics of a highway can differ. For example, in the United States of America's state of California, civil code 360(590) defines that a highway refers to "any way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel." Streets, avenues and even one lane dirt roads are therefore considered highways within the state of California, so long as they are maintained by the state. Multi-lane, high-speed roadways with restricted access are called freeways according to California's civil code, whereby all freeways are highways but not all highways are freeways. In other jurisdictions, such as the Canadian province of Ontario, all public roadways are legally defined as a highway, regardless of its ownership.

Some highways, like the Pan-American Highway or the European routes, bridge multiple countries. Australia's Highway 1 is the longest national highway in the world at over 20,000km and runs almost the entire way around the country.

Highways are not always continuous stretches of pavement. For example, some highways are interrupted by bodies of water, and ferry routes may serve as sections of the highway.

[edit] Quick facts

An International highway sign, found mainly in Europe denoting the start of special motorway restrictions to a section of highway.

• Longest international highway: the Pan-American Highway, which connects many countries in the Americas, is nearly 48,000 km (29,826 mi) long as of 2005.
• Longest national highway: Australia's Highway 1 at over 20,000 km (12,427 mi). It runs almost the entire way around the country’s coastline. With the exception of Canberra (which is inland) it links all the capital cities, although Brisbane and Darwin are not directly connected. Also the route links all the major towns and cities of the island state of Tasmania, Burnie, Devonport, Launceston and Hobart (the state’s capital).
• Longest national highway (Point to point): The Trans-Canada Highway (Known as TCH 1 in western Canada) is 7,821 km (4,857 mi) long as of 2006. It runs across southern Canada and connects with several major urban centres along its longitudinal route.^[1]
• Largest national highway system: The United States of America has approximately 6,430,366 km (3,995,644 mi) of highway within its borders as of 2005. However, the People's Republic of China is quickly catching to the United States. By 2050, China's road network will cover over 4 million kilometers, compared with the 1.7 million kilometers it has today. The quality of China's roads will also dramatically improve. ^[2]
• Busiest highway: Highway 401 in Ontario, Canada, has volumes surpassing an average of 500,000 vehicles per day in some sections of Toronto as of 2006.^[3][4]
• Widest highway (maximum number of lanes): The Katy Freeway (part of Interstate 10) in Houston, Texas, United States of America, has a total of 26 lanes in some sections as of 2007. However, they are divided up into general use/frontage roads/HOV lanes, restricting traffic flow.
• Widest highway (number of maximum through lanes): Highway 401 through Mississauga, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto) has the most unrestricted free-flow lanes, at 18 (22 including restricted) as of 2006.

[edit] Nomenclature

The terms used for various types of highways (such as autobahn, autoroute, expressway, freeway and motorway) vary between countries or even regions within a country. In some places a highway is a specific type of major road that is distinct from freeway or expressway; in other places the terms may overlap. In law, highway may mean any public road or canal. However, in some countries, the term highway is not generally used at all.

[edit] List of Countries

[edit] Australia

The Hume Highway in eastern Australia.

Main article: Highways in Australia

In Australia, a highway is a distinct type of road from freeways, expressways and motorways. The word highway is generally used to mean major roads connecting large cities, towns and different parts of metropolitan areas. Metropolitan highways often have traffic lights at intersections, and rural highways usually have only one lane in each direction. The words freeway, expressway or motorway are generally reserved for the most arterial routes, usually with grade-separated intersections and usually significantly straightened and widened to a minimum of four lanes. The term motorway is used in some Australian cities to refer to freeways that have been allocated a metropolitan route number, and in Sydney, a motorway has a toll, whereas a freeway is free of charge. On the Hume Highway when traveling from Melbourne to Sydney there is only one set of traffic signals, they are in Holbrook. Roads may be part-highway and part-freeway until they are fully upgraded. The Cahill expressway is the only "named" expressway in New South Wales, which opened in 1954 the first in New South Wales that in 1954 was expressed.

[edit] Bosnia and Herzegovina

See also: Corridor Vc

As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Pan-European Corridor 5c Motorway, Budapest - Osijek - Sarajevo - Ploce, is one of the most significant and project of the highest priority. The construction works on the road have already begun, but intensified beginning of the construction will be a key starter of economic and social activities, and will enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to be connected to main European traffic network, as well as to global European economic and social structure.

Construction of the motorway, whose total length is 340 km, will provide: rational connecting to neighboring countries and regions; stabilizing and developing effects will be reached; transport conditions and quality of life improvement; economy competitiveness enhancement; new projects launched and national and international private investments enhancement.

[edit] Brazil

See also: List of Brazilian Highways

The SP-160, known as Rodovia dos Imigrantes, in southeastern Brazil.

In Brazil, highways (or expressway/freeway) are named "rodovia", and Brazilian highways are divided in two types: regional highways (generally of less importance and entirely inside of one state) and national highways (of major importance to the country). In Brazil, rodovia is the name given exclusively to roads connecting two or more cities with a sizable distance separating the extremes of the highway. Urban highways for commuting are uncommon in Brazil, and when they are present, they receive different names, depending of the region (Avenida, Marginal, Linha, Via, Eixo, etc). Very rarely names other than "rodovia" are used.

Regional highways are named YY-XXX, where YY is the abbreviation of the state where the highway is running in and XXX is a number (e.g. SP-280; where SP means that the highway is running entirely in the state of São Paulo).

National highways are named BR-XXX. National highways connects multiples states altogether, are of major importance to the national economy and/or connects Brazil to another country. The meaning of the numbers are:

• 001-100 - it means that the highway runs radially from Brasília. It is an exception to the cases below.
• 101-200 - it means that the highway runs in a south-north way.
• 201-300 - it means that the highway runs in a west-east way
• 301-400 - it means that the highway runs in a diagonal way (northwest-southeast, for example)
• 400-499 - another exception, they are less important highways and its function is to connect a city to an arterial highway nearby

Often, Brazilian highways receive names (famous people, etc) their YY/BR-XXX designation (example: SP-280 is also known as Rodovia Castelo Branco).

[edit] Canada

Highway 401: the world's busiest highway^[3][4], showing its 14-lane collector-express system through Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• In Canada, there is no national standard for nomenclature, although in non-technical contexts highway appears to be most popular in most areas. The general speed limits on most Canadian highways range between 80 -110km/h on two lane highways, and 90-110km/h on multi-lane, divided highways.
  • For a country of its size, it has relatively few extensive highway networks, with the majority of freeways and freeway networks being in Eastern Canada, linking Southern Ontario and Quebec with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This makes the existing networks extremely well traveled, especially in the country's south, requiring these routes to be well maintained and wide enough to accommodate the volume they carry to prevent the economical problems resulting from traffic congestion and safe enough to minimize vehicle accidents.

• In Ontario, all public roads are legally defined as highways, though provincially managed roads are known legally as the King's Highways. In day-to-day usage, the term highway is used for provincial routes. It is also common for surface routes to be referred to by the phrase number (e.g. "Take Hwy. 10 from Mississauga to Owen Sound"), especially by older generations. The words freeway or expressway are sometimes used to refer to controlled-access, high-speed, grade-separated highways such as the 400-series highways, the Conestoga Parkway, the Don Valley Parkway, or the E.C. Row Expressway. The only highway officially labeled as a freeway is the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, usually known as Highway 401, or simply "the 401", which is the world's busiest highway^[3][4]. Nearly all highways in Ontario use parclo interchanges, which were developed by the province. Parclos are able to avoid weaving, but maximize efficiency and safety.
• In Quebec, major highways are called autoroutes in French, and expressways or autoroutes in English.
• Nova Scotia numbers its highways by the routes they parallel, for example, Highway 107 parallels Trunk 7. This, to a lesser extent, also applies in Ontario (e.g. Highway 410 and Highway 420 parallel Highway 10 and Highway 20.) Nova Scotia also numbers their highways according to usage: Main Artiral Highways are in the 100's, Secondary or old Arteral Highways are numbered in the double digits from 1 to 28, and Collector Roads are numbered in the triple digits starting at 200.
• The Trans-Canada Highway, the highway that crosses the entire country and enters all ten provinces. It ranges from a wilderness two-lane highway to a multi-lane urban superhighway. There are three ferry routes along the Trans-Canada Highway, allowing the route to connect to Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Vancouver Island, although the Confederation Bridge allows ferry-less passage to Prince Edward Island. Since the Trans-Canada Highway is not a divided route for the majority of its length (at this time), it is considered more of an equivalent to the US Route network in the neighbouring United States, with Ontario's 400-Series, Quebec's Autoroutes, New Brunswick's portion of the Trans-Canada Highway, and Nova Scotia's 100-Series Highways being inter-connected provincial equivalents to the United States' Interstate Highway System.

[edit] Chile

See also: Highways of Chile

Chile has a large Highway coverage which connects the whole country but with the exception of the Magallanes Region.

[edit] China, People's Republic

See also: Expressways of China

National Highway G030 northbound in mainland China.

"Highways" in China, more often than not, refer to China National Highways. The fully controlled-access, multi-lane, central-separation routes are instead called expressways. As of 2005, there were 1.55 million km of highways and 42,000 km of expressways in China; both total lengths are second only to the United States.

In Mainland China, private companies reimbursed through tolls are the primary means of creating and financing the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS).

Expressways are lumped with first-grade G-prefixed guodaos (国道, or "national highway") or A-prefixed first-grade expressways in major municipal cities. All roads in the NTHS and most A-prefixed roads are expressways.

• M-prefix: National (Trunk) Expressways (planned)
• G-prefix: National highways (typically expressways)
• A-prefix: Municipal highways (typically expressways)
• S-prefix: Provincial highways
• X-prefix: County highways
• Y-prefix: Rural roads
• Z-prefix: Special use roads (e.g., airport expressways)

Some highways are numbered with a leading zero (e.g. G030).

The term Freeway during the 1990s was used on a few expressways (such as the Jingshi Freeway). The term freeway has since been replaced with expressway on all signs in China. The Chinese name for expressways is uniform; in pinyin, it is gaosu gonglu, which literally means "high speed public road".

Signs on the National Highways (G-prefix) are green, while on the lower-grade highways and urban expressways (A-prefix) are blue.

[edit] Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the type of high speed roads is referred to as expressway, but some are named as highways or roads ('Yuen Long Highway', 'Tolo Highway', 'Tsuen Wan Road', 'Tuen Mun Road', etc.). Some others are named corridors and bypasses.

[edit] France

A French Autoroute, a highway built to high standards.

France has a national highway system dating back to the Napoleonic era. The chausees constructed at this time, radiating out from Paris, form the basis for the "routes nationales" (RN), whose red numbers differ from the yellow numbering used for secondary "routes departementales". The RNs numbered from 1 to 20 radiate from Paris to major ports or border crossings. More recently (after the Second World War), France has constructed Autoroutes, superhighways (usually toll) with a speed limit of 130 km/h (110 in rainy conditions or urban areas).

[edit] Germany

Main article: Autobahns of Germany

A German Autobahn, built in the 1930s, inspired how modern highways are designed to this day all around the world. Even today, some Autobahns in Germany have no posted speed limits in certain sections, allowing drivers to travel at very high speeds regardless of the lane.

Aside from highways bearing the Autobahn designation, Germany has many two- and four-lane roads. Federal highways not known as autobahns are called Bundesstraßen (Bundesstrassen) and, while usually two-lane roads, they may also be four-lane, limited-access expressways of local or regional importance. Unlike the Autobahns, though, Bundesstraßen (marked by black numbers on a yellow background) mostly have speed limits (usually 100 km/h, but occasionally higher on limited-access segments, and lower in urban areas or near intersections).

[edit] India

An overview of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in western India.

Main article: Expressways of India

In India, 'Highway' refers to one of the many National Highways that run up to a total length of about 58,000 kilometers consisting mostly of 2 lane paved roads, changing into higher lanes mostly within cities. An expressway refers to any elevated road with grade-separated intersections. As of 2005, there were 4,885 km of expressways in India. The NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) has put all the highway and expressway projects on the fast track and by 2010 plans to cover every corner of India through the highway system. Highways in India are designated as NH followed by the number. The four major cities in India- Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkota, and Delhi- are now connected by the Golden Quadrilateral. A system roughly shaped in a diamond form that consists of 4 to 6 laned roads.

[edit] Ireland

The Republic of Ireland has a similar system to the United Kingdom except that its major roads are classed as 'N' road or 'R' road rather than 'A' road/'B' road as in the UK.

[edit] Italy

The A3 in Italy.

In Italy the term highway can be applied to superstrada (can be translated as expressway) and autostrada (Italian term for motorway): this country was the first one in the world to build such roads.

[edit] Malaysia

Main article: Malaysian expressway system

South section of North-South Expressway in Malaysia, facing towards Kuala Lumpur.

The highest level of major roads in Malaysia, expressway (lebuhraya), has full access control, grade separated junctions, and mostly tolled. The expressways link the major state capitals in Peninsular Malaysia and major cities in Klang Valley.

Highway is lower level with limited access control, some at-grade junctions or roundabouts, and generally with 2 lanes in each separated direction. These are generally untolled and funded by the federal government, hence the first one is called Federal Highway linking Klang and Kuala Lumpur.

The trunk roads linking major cities and towns in the country are called federal trunk roads, and are generally 2 lanes single carriageway roads, in places with a third climbing lane for slow lorries.

[edit] New Zealand

State Highway 1 in South Auckland.

Main article: New Zealand State Highway network

In New Zealand, both motorway and an expressway have at least two-lanes of traffic in either direction separated by a median, with no access to adjacent properties. The distinction depends on the type of traffic allowed to use the route. Non-vehicular traffic and farm-equipment are prohibited from motorways, while pedestrians, cyclists, tractors, and farm animals are legally entited to use expressways such as the Waikato Expressway south of the Bombay Hills and the Tauranga expressway system, although this is rare. New Zealand's main routes are designated state highways as they are funded by the National Government. State Highway 1 is the only route to run through both the North and South Islands, and runs (in order north-south) from Cape Reinga to Wellington in the North Island, and from Picton to Bluff in the South Island. State Highways 2-5 are main routes in the North Island, State Highways 6-9 in the South Island, and state highways numbered from 10 onwards are generally found in numerical order from north to south. State highways usually incorporate different standards of roads, for example, State Highway 1 from Auckland to Hamilton incorporates the Northern and Southern Motorways in the Auckland area, the Waikato Expressway, and a rural road before passing through the streets of Hamilton. The term freeway is rarely used relating to New Zealand roads, and can only be considered an Americanism.

[edit] Pakistan

Faizabad interchange: Gateway to the capital city, Islamabad (Pakistan)

Pakistan has its own network of motorways. The first one, the M2 was built in 1997 with the contract being awarded to the Korean firm Daewoo. It linked the federal capital Islamabad with Punjab's provincial capital Lahore. The network was then extended to Sargodha and then to Faisalabad with the M3. There exist plans to construct the M1 motorway to the NWFP's capital Peshawar. N5 links Karachi to other cities. More highways are being planned and some are also being built by local and foreign firms.

Entry Restrictions
On all the motorways in Pakistan, entry is restricted to fast moving wheelers only. Two wheelers (motorcycles and bicycles) and slow moving traffic modes are not allowed. However Motorway Police personnel use heavy motor bikes for patrolling purposes. Construction and agricultural machineray is also restricted.

[edit] Philippines

North Luzon Expressway in Philippines.

Many Philippine expressways are privately owned and maintained. All are located in the largest island, Luzon. They follow the US Interstate Highway Standards and speed limits are strictly enforced. The most modern and the longest expressway, the North Luzon Expressway links the capital, Manila to other provinces in Northern Luzon while the South Luzon Expressway links Manila with provinces on the Southern Luzon.

Presently, all Philippine expressways are under rehabilitation to decrease the occurrence of traffic jams and to improve their quality. They are widened and improved of standrds.

South Luzon Expressway(Skyway segment) in thePhilippines.

There are only six tollways in Luzon island, the North Luzon Expressway (connecting Manila to North Luzon), the South Luzon Expressway (connecting Manila to the rest of the Philippines), the Roman Expressway (in Bataan peninsula), Tipo Expressway (connecting Subic Freeport to Dinalupihan), the Southern Tagalog Access Road (STAR Tollway) (connecting Sto. Tomas to Lipa), and the Manila-Cavite Expressway, connecting Metro Manila with the Province of Cavite.

Despite that many highways in Metro Manila, there are still two lane and one way roads like national and provincial roads around the country.

[edit] Singapore

The Bukit Timah Expressway in Singapore.

The expressways of Singapore are all dual carriageways with grade-separated access. They usually have three lanes in each direction, although there are two- or four-lane carriageways in some places. There are eight expressways, with another one, the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, currently under construction.

Construction on the first expressway, the Pan Island Expressway, started in 1966. The other expressways were completed in stages, with an extension of the Seletar Expressway being the most recently completed, in 1999. Today, there are 92.5 miles (148km) of expressways in Singapore.

[edit] South Africa

Colloquially, the terms "freeway", "highway", and "motorway" are used synonymously. There are very few references to the term "expressway" in South Africa. A freeway, highway or motorway refers to a divided dual carriageway with limited access, and at least two lanes in either direction. A central island, usually either with drainage, foliage or high-impact barriers, provides a visible separation between carriageways in opposite directions. As with the UK,Ireland & Australia, South Africans drive on the left-hand side of the road and all steering wheels are on the right-hand side of vehicles.

Freeways are designated with one of three labels: N (in reference to national roads), R (short for "route", in reference to provincial roads), and M (in reference to metropolitan roads). This has more to do with the location of a road and its function than anything else. In addition, "N" roads usually run the length of the country over long distances, "R" roads usually inter-connect cities and towns within a province, and "M" roads carry heavy traffic in metropolitan areas. Route markings also determine who paid for the road: "N" was paid for by national government, "R" by provincial government and "M" by local government. In recent years, some "R" roads have been re-designated as "N" roads, so that control and funding comes from the South African National Roads Agency.

[edit] Spain

An older Spanish highway.

Spain's national highway system dates back to the era of King Carlos III. The roads built at this time, radiating from Madrid, form the basis for the carreteras nacionales radiales, numbered clockwise from I to VI, which radiate from Madrid to major ports or border crossings. In the 1960s Spain constructed autopistas (toll highways) and autovias, and nowadays (2005) has 15,000 km of highways.

[edit] Switzerland

See also: Autobahns of Switzerland

The term Autobahn (German) / Autoroute (French) / Autostrada (Italian) is used for normal expressways where there is a central physical structure separating two different directional carriageways. This is often translated into English as motorway.

In express routes where there is no central physical structure separating two different directional carriageways, but crossings are still motorway-like otherwise, and traffic lights are not present, the road is instead called an Autostrasse / Semi-autoroute / Semi-autostrada, translated into English as a motorroad. Those often have a lower speed limit than motorways.

[edit] Turkey

See also: List of highways in Turkey

Turkey's main highway is E80 (former E5) runs from Edirne to the capital Ankara.

[edit] United Kingdom

The M1, a motorway in the United Kingdom.

See also: Rights of way in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, unless a route is classified as a motorway, the term used may be main road, trunk road, 'A' road/'B' road, or, where appropriate, dual carriageway. In the law of England and Wales the term highway covers everything from a footpath (for foot passage only), to a bridleway (for foot, bicycle and equestrian use), to a byway open for all traffic (for all the aforementioned users, plus any motorised user), to unclassified county roads, classified roads, trunk roads, motorways and special roads. In British law, there is no definition of "road", and generally the most common usage refers to:

• "Carriageway",
• "Footpath",
• "Bridleway" or
• "Byway"

In England and Wales the public are said to have a "right of way" over a Highway. This means that, subject to statutory restrictions, the route must be kept clear to allow travel by anyone who wishes to it. At common law, it is forbidden to obstruct a highway or interfere with passage. However, many statutory provisions provide powers to do so (for instance to carry out road works). Rights of way exist both over roads maintained at the public expense (the majority of roads) and over some roads on private property. In this case, the owner must allow passage over the highway. A right of way may be created by custom (i.e. the road has been used for a long period of time) or under the relevant positions of the Highways Act 1980. A right of way may by only be extinguished or diverted by or under an Act of Parliament. For instance, under the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 authority is given for the builder of the rail link to stop up certain highways mentioned in Schedule 3 of the act.

The contrast to a Highway is a private road over which no right of way exists. Travel on a private road is subject to the consent of the owner of the land.

[edit] United States of America

Interstate 75/85 in Atlanta, Georgia, is a typical urban freeway in The United States of America.

In the United States, "highway" is a general term for denoting a public way, including the entire area within the right-of-way, and includes many forms:

1. a high-speed, limited-access road like expressways and freeways.
2. an important road that connects cities.
3. any road at all

Many highways are part of the official National Highway System.

The familiarity of the Interstate Highway system implies "highway" describes any freeway, regardless of whether it is part of the Interstate Highway system.

However, the United States Numbered Highways system, which predates Interstate Highways, can vary from 2 lanes (1 lane each direction), shoulderless, paved roads with no access control to roads built to the same standards as Interstate Highways. These roads are usually distinguished by being important, but not always primary, routes that connect populated areas.

"Highway" even includes roads that serve similar purposes to United States numbered highways but which are numbered and maintained by state or local governments.

Finally, in some places, "highway" is a synonym for "road" or "street". For example, California Motor Vehicle Code § 360 states: "'Highway' is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Highway includes street."

Today, many of the highways in the United States of America are made of concrete and use outdated freeway interchanges. The government is trying to improve its national roadway system by repaving highways and reconstructing various interchanges. Many cloverleaf interchanges are being converted to parclo interchanges, based on the well-received Canadian Ministry of Transportation (Ontario)'s models or other variations. Busy Diamond interchanges are also being converted to SPUI (single-point-urban interchange) s or parclos to reduce congestion.

Arguably, the most famous United States highway is Route 66. It is immortalized in the song "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66." Other famous highways of song include Carefree Highway in Arizona (Gordon Lightfoot, 1974), Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California (Jan & Dean, also Beach Boys, 1964), and Ventura Highway in California (America, 1972).

[edit] Social and environmental effects of highways

A 6-lane Italian highway entering a tunnel in the Appennines.

By reducing travel times relative to arterial streets, highways have a positive effect upon balance of leisure or productive time through reduced commute and other travel time. However, highways have criticisms, partially due to being an extended linear source of pollution:

• Community cohesion: Where highways are created through existing communities, there can be reduced community cohesion and more difficult local access. Consequently property values have decreased in many cutoff neighborhoods, leading to decreased housing quality over time.
• Roadway noise: Highways generate more roadway noise than arterial streets due to the higher operating speeds. Therefore, considerable noise health effects are expected from highway systems. Noise mitigation strategies exist to reduce sound levels at nearby sensitive receptors. The idea that highway design could be influenced by acoustical engineering considerations first arose about 1973.^[5][6]
• Air quality issues: Highways may contribute fewer emissions than arterials carrying the same vehicle volumes. This is because high, constant-speed operation creates an emissions reduction compared to vehicular flows with stops and starts. However, concentrations of air pollutants near highways may be higher due to increased traffic volumes. Therefore, the risk of exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants from a highway may be considerable, and further magnified when highways have traffic congestion.

• HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes are being added to some newer/reconstructed highways in North America and other countries around the world to encourage carpooling and mass-transit. These lanes help reduce the number of cars on the highway and thus reduces pollution and traffic congestion by promoting the use of carpooling in order to be able to use these lanes. However, they require dedicated lanes on a highway which makes them difficult to construct in dense urban areas, where they are the most effective.

An HOV lane on Highway 404 in Toronto. International standards for HOV lanes differ, as HOV lanes on Ontario, Canada's 400-series highways use a striped buffer zone to separate them from general lanes.

To quote the Ontario Ministry of Transportation:

"HOV lanes are a critical part of the Province’s transportation strategy because of their ability to increase the efficiency of Ontario’s transportation system. HOV lanes have proven to be a successful strategy in many North American cities for moving more people and increasing the efficiency of the transportation network. An HOV lane has the ability to move as many people as four general-purpose lanes.^[7]

New highways can also cause habitat fragmentation and allow human intrusion into previously untouched areas.

[edit] Further information

For information on the history and local styles of highways around the world refer to

• Ayalon Highway,(Israel)
• Autobahns of Austria (Austria)
• Autobahns of Germany (Germany)
• Autobahns of Switzerland (Switzerland)
• Autocesta (Croatia)
• Auto-Estrada (Portugal, notable for the introduction of the world's first electronic toll collection system, the Via Verde.)
• Autopista (Spain)
• Autoput (Serbia)
• Autoput or Autocesta (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Autoroute (France)
• Autoroute (Quebec)
• Autostrada (Italy, Poland, Romania, Egypt)
• Avtocesta (Slovenia)
• Expressway (Mainland China)
• Expressway (Lebuhraya) (Malaysia)
• Freeway, Expressway, and Parkway (United States)
• Freeway (Canada)
• Kōsokudōro (Japan)
• Manitoba's Primary Routes (Manitoba) (Canada)
• Motorväg (Sweden)
• Motorway (United Kingdom)
• Motorway (Ireland)
• National Highways (India)
• National Trunk Highway System (Mainland China)
• Rodovia (Brazil)
• Rijksweg (The Netherlands)

A highway interchange from Maxis' Sim City 4 is an example of how highways are used in popular culture.

• Trans-Canada Highway (Canada)
• Transportation of Israel Israeli Expressways, named "Kvish Mahir" (expressway in Hebrew)
• 100-series Highways / 100-Series Highways (Nova Scotia) (Canada)
• 200-Series Highways (Alberta) (Canada)
• 400-Series Highways (Ontario) (Canada)

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Air pollution
• Bypass route
• Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
• FHWA Series fonts, the standard typeface for highway signs in the United States and Canada
• Highwayman
• List of roads and highways
• Roadway noise
• Roadway air dispersion modeling
• Passing lane
• Ring road
• Road
• Road junction
• Road safety
• Toll road

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Highways

• Legal definition in Canada
• Legal opinion, Kansas, U.S.A.
• U.S. Highways: From US 1 to (US 830)
• Full list of Euroroutes with distances
• Euroroutes with distances
• Proposed Trans-Global Highway