Perspectives on Asian Highway System

From Singapore to London by Car?

Unlike the the well-established Interstate Highway System with its I-95 style numbering of the United States with links into Mexico and Canada, and the equally well-established European Route System with its E36 style numbering that criss-crosses all of Europe, the Asian Highway System is a concept that is still taking concrete shape. If things go well, by 2010 a significant portion of the Asian Highway System should be operational, allowing road travelers and truckers to cross national boundaries.

Being created under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (UNESCAP), the Asian Highway network is eventually going to represent 141,000 kilometers of standardized roadways, with A or AH numbering similar to the E numbering, covering 32 Asian countries with linkages to Europe.

When operational, it would be possible for someone to get in a car in Singapore, travel all across ASEAN, South Asia, Middle East, and Europe, and arrive in London. Similarly, people could travel from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Bergen in Norway, crossing vast swaths of farmland, prairies, snow-clad mountains, barren deserts, and permafrost of the tundra.

This blog is intended to provide information and insights, and a forum for discussion, about the Asian Highway System.

Visit it often, and especially when you make your plans to travel by car from Tokyo to Istanbul on Asian Highway One!

Nik Dholakia
Rhode Island, USA

posted by Nik Dholakia @ 9:10 PM