Editing Bangkok (section)

===Roads===
[[File:0008871-สะพานกรุงเทพพาโนราม่า.jpg|thumb|alt=View of the Krung Thep Bridge at night with many skyscrapers in the background|[[Krungthep Bridge|Krung Thep Bridge]] spanning the [[Chao Phraya river]]]]
Road-based transport is the primary mode of travel in Bangkok. Due to the city's organic development, its streets do not follow an organized grid structure. Forty-eight major roads link the different areas of the city, branching into smaller streets and lanes (''[[soi]]'') which serve local neighbourhoods. [[List of bridges in Bangkok|Eleven bridges]] over the Chao Phraya link the two sides of the city, while several [[Controlled-access highways in Thailand|expressway]] and [[Thai motorway network|motorway]] routes bring traffic into and out of the city centre and link with nearby provinces. The first expressway in Bangkok is [[Chaloem Maha Nakhon Expressway]], which opened in 1981.
[[File:Phahonyothin Road, north of Ha Yaek Lat Phrao station.jpg|left|thumb|Traffic jams, seen here on [[Phahonyothin Road]], are common in Bangkok.]]
Bangkok's rapid growth in the 1980s resulted in sharp increases in vehicle ownership and traffic demand, which have since continued. In 2006, there were 3,943,211 in-use vehicles in Bangkok, of which 37.6 per cent were private cars and 32.9 per cent were motorcycles.<ref>{{cite web|title=Developing Integrated Emission Strategies for Existing Land-transport |url=http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/system/files/articles-72628_Ch3.pdf |publisher=Clean Air Initiative |access-date=15 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603110642/http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/system/files/articles-72628_Ch3.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2013 }}</ref> These increases, in the face of limited carrying capacity, caused severe traffic congestion evident by the early 1990s. The extent of the problem is such that the Thai Traffic Police has a unit of officers trained in basic midwifery to assist deliveries that do not reach the hospital in time.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Bangkok gridlock, Thai traffic police double as midwives |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMfzhH0cMlYhkVxkytUzlBScCrDQ |agency=Agence France-Presse|date=17 April 2008 |access-date=22 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527060147/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMfzhH0cMlYhkVxkytUzlBScCrDQ |archive-date=27 May 2013 }}</ref> While Bangkok's limited road surface area (8 per cent, compared to 20–30 per cent in most Western cities) is often cited as a major cause of its traffic jams, other factors, including high vehicle ownership rate relative to income level, inadequate public transport systems, and lack of [[transportation demand management]], also play a role.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tanaboriboon|first=Yordphol|title=Bangkok traffic|journal=IATSS Research|year=1993|volume=7|issue=1|url=http://iatss.or.jp/english/research/17-1/pdf/17-1-02.pdf|access-date=15 September 2012|archive-date=16 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616163811/http://iatss.or.jp/english/research/17-1/pdf/17-1-02.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Efforts to alleviate the problem have included the construction of intersection bypasses and an extensive system of elevated highways, as well as the creation of several new rapid transit systems. [[Congestion pricing in Bangkok|Plans to implement congestion pricing]] were announced in 2024.<ref name="BP congestion pricing">{{Cite news |last= |first= |title=B40-50 congestion charge on inner-Bangkok streets |date=17 October 2024 |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2885441/b40-50-congestion-charge-to-subsidise-b20-rail-fares |access-date=2024-10-20 |work=Bangkok Post |language=en}}</ref> The city's overall traffic conditions, however, remain poor.

{{anchor|Air pollution}}Traffic has been the main source of air pollution in Bangkok, which reached serious levels in the 1990s. But efforts to improve air quality by improving fuel quality and enforcing emission standards, among others, had visibly ameliorated the problem by the 2000s. [[Atmospheric particulate matter]] levels dropped from 81 micrograms per cubic metre in 1997 to 43 in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fuller|first=Thomas|title=Bangkok's template for an air-quality turnaround|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/world/asia/23iht-bangkok.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327141354/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/world/asia/23iht-bangkok.html |archive-date=2010-03-27 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=15 September 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 February 2007}}</ref> However, increasing vehicle numbers and a lack of continued pollution-control efforts threatens a reversal of the past success.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Thin Lei Win|title=Choked by traffic, Bangkok revs up to beat air pollution|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangkok-environment-pollution/choked-by-traffic-bangkok-revs-up-to-beat-air-pollution-idUSKCN18E0KB|access-date=15 February 2018|work=Reuters|date=18 May 2017|archive-date=16 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030616/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangkok-environment-pollution/choked-by-traffic-bangkok-revs-up-to-beat-air-pollution-idUSKCN18E0KB|url-status=live}}</ref> In January–February 2018, weather conditions caused bouts of haze to cover the city, with particulate matter under 2.5 micrometres (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) rising to unhealthy levels for several days on end.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-15/planning-a-vacation-in-bangkok-don-t-forget-your-pollution-mask|title=There's a New Contender for Title of Asia's Most Polluted City|last1=Chuwiruch|first1=Natnicha|date=15 February 2018|work=Bloomberg|access-date=15 February 2018|last2=Suwannakij|first2=Supunnabul|archive-date=21 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221100221/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-15/planning-a-vacation-in-bangkok-don-t-forget-your-pollution-mask|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=City smog worsens to danger level|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1412290/city-smog-worsens-to-danger-level|access-date=15 February 2018|work=Bangkok Post|date=15 February 2018|archive-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215073734/https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1412290/city-smog-worsens-to-danger-level|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the BMA has created thirty signed bicycle routes along several roads totalling {{convert|230|km}},<ref>Traffic and Transportation Department, p.&nbsp;154.</ref> cycling is still largely impractical, especially in the city centre. Most of these bicycle lanes share the pavement with pedestrians. Poor surface maintenance, encroachment by hawkers and street vendors, and a hostile environment for cyclists and pedestrians make cycling and walking unpopular methods of getting around in Bangkok.