Carriageway

A carriageway (British English)[1] or roadway (North American English)[2] consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of traffic lanes together with any associated shoulder, but may be a sole lane in width (for example, a highway offramp).

Diagram showing different arrangements of the elements of a road

Description

A single carriageway road (North American English: undivided highway) has one carriageway with 1, 2 or more lanes together with any associated footways (North American English: sidewalk) and road verges (North American English: tree belt). A dual carriageway road (North American English: divided highway) has two roadways separated by a central reservation (North American English: median). A local-express lane system (also called collector-express or collector-distributor) has more than two roadways, typically two sets of 'local lanes' or 'collector lanes' and also two sets of 'express lanes'. "Cars only" lanes may be physically separated from those open to mixed traffic including trucks and buses. The New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) in the United States, uses this design from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to its northern terminus at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee. High-occupancy vehicle lanes may also be physically separated from the remainder of the general traffic lanes as a distinct roadway. Some cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have many bus-only roadways to alleviate congestion related to public transit buses, despite its very challenging topography which severely limits the extent to which arterial roadways can be added or augmented.

gollark: So if you have a set of electric cars with small batteries - enough to travel within a city and near it - available for rent, and you don't suffer too much overhead from having to rent them out, that could conceivably be a good method of transport.
gollark: Electric cars are expensive *partly* because they need batteries for hundred-mile journeys, even though most actually won't be this long. And cars are kind of inefficient because most of the time they're left idling.
gollark: Personally, I think that local public transport and short-range intra-city electric cars would be worth considering.
gollark: Batteries' energy density isn't that great right now, sadly.
gollark: Also, they cause pollution indirectly, much like electric cars, although less.

See also

References
  1. "Multi-lane carriageways (133-143)". Highway Code. A dual carriageway is a road which has a central reservation to separate the carriageways.
  2. "Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing Handbook - Revised Second Edition August 2007 - Glossary". Federal Highway Administration. The portion of a highway, including shoulders, for vehicular use. A divided highway has two or more roadways.
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