Transport in Australia - Roads

Roads

Australia has the second highest level of car ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world. Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane are rated among the most car-dependent cities in the world, with Sydney and Melbourne close behind. Furthermore, the distance travelled by car (or similar vehicle) in Australia is among the highest in the world, being exceeded by USA and Canada.

There are 3 different categories of Australian roads. They are federal highways, state highways and local roads. The road network comprises a total of 913,000 km broken down into:

  • paved: 353,331 km (including 3,132 km of expressways)
  • unpaved: 559,669 km (1996 estimate)

The majority of road tunnels in Australia have been constructed since the 1990s to relieve traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, or to cross significant watercourses.

See also: List of tunnels in Australia

Read more about this topic:  Transport In Australia

Famous quotes containing the word roads:

    “Lift your eyes
    Where the roads dip and where the roads rise
    Seek only there
    Where the grey light meets the green air
    The hermit’s chapel, the pilgrim’s prayer.”
    —T.S. (Thomas Stearns)

    “They’re busy making bigger roads,
    and better roads and more,
    so that people can discover
    even faster than before
    that everything is everywhere alike.”
    —Piet Hein (b. 1905)

    “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.”
    —Robert Frost (1874–1963)