China has been experiencing dynamic urbanization and motorization due to rapid economic growth. During the period 1980-2005, the overall GDP increased by approximately 40 times, averaging around 10% growth per annum; the urban population tripled while the total population increased by 30%. The numbers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle drivers increased approximately 18 times and 33 times respectively. During the last 20 years a road network has steadily been formed. Expressways have been rapidly developed since 1988. In 1988 the first 18.5 km-long Shanghai- Jiading Expressway was completed and opened to traffic. In less than 20 years the total length of expressways reached 41,005 km in 2005. The central government_approved in January 2005 the National Expressway Network Master plan comprising 85,000 km (so called 7918 plan), which will be completed in the next 20-30 years. Due to the improvement of the road infrastructure and rapid motorization, the amount of road transport has kept increasing since 1980. The share of passenger-km by highway has increased_from 32.0% in 1980 to 53.2% in 2005, while the share of freight ton-km by highway has increased from 6.4% in 1980 to 10.8% in 2005. Railway and waterway are still major modes for transporting long-distance heavy cargo.
Abstract