Application of access management techniques in China under global financial crisis

With the fast development of economy and society in the past two decades, roadway system of China has undergone rapid development. In spite of this, the rapid increase of traffic demand has led to more and more serious problems of traffic safety and congestion. With the coming of global financial crisis, people are forced to ponder the basic factors, which underlie the sustainable development of economy and society. As far as road transportation is concerned, it holds true that access management is the key to improve the traffic safety and congestion. Good qualities of highway pavements cannot guarantee faster and safer movement of vehicles. No matter how wide the highways are, randomly and densely distributed access points along them almost always cause deterioration in safety and level of service. Access management techniques are efficient approaches to the solution of traffic safety and congestion problems. The paper introduces basic concepts of access management, and then discusses roadway functional classification and access spacing standards, which are the basis of the access management techniques. Standards are suggested, which is very helpful for practical application of access management techniques in China.