# A table that shows whether your country has too many or too few highways



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

*A table that shows whether your country has too many or too few highways*

Have you ever wondered if your country has too many of too few kilometers of highway in comparison with a different state? Is there a simple parameter that allows us to make a meaningful hierarchy of territories regarding their real need for a certain amount of highway length?

The answer is that if a state has enough vehicles/km (~taxpayers/km) for maintaining the highways in good shape then it can afford them if not it is better to stay with its network of ordinary roads and leave the highways for the future. 

see:
Density of cars per km of highway for around 80 countries
(_After consulting the preview, it is indicated to press Download for an Excel copy which is useful for various calculations adapted for your country_)

As you can remark, the network of highways for: Cuba, Canada, Chile, Oman, Iraq, Croatia, UAE, Macedonia, Cameroon, Syria, Spain, Saudi Arabia, China, El Salvador, Slovenia, Denmark, Morocco, Albania, Hungary appears to be oversized for the number of existent vehicles.

I can personally confirm that: Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Hungary have too many empty stretches of highway. If you stay close to important cities the highways appear to be full, sometimes at peak hours, however, far of towns the highways stay empty most of the year which means they are slowly degraded by heavy trucks being of little use for the majority of people.

I do not have first hand information of the real situations in other countries and I would be interested whether, from your personal experience, you agree, at least in part, with the hierarchy in the list. For instance, if you are from Spain, do you think your country has more highways than it needs of less?

Same table in text format:

Remarks:
Density1= the density of highways per square kilometer (m/km2 or km/1000*km2)
Density2 = the density of cars per square kilometer (cars/km2)
Density3 = the density of cars per kilometer of highway (cars/km) = Density2/Density1

===============	===========	==========	===========	=========	========	========	========	
Country--------	--Highways-	---Cars---	Population-	-Surface-	Density1	Density2	Density3	
---------------	---(km)----	--(units)-	--(people)-	--(km2)--	(m/km^2)	cars/km2	-cars/km	
===============	===========	==========	===========	=========	========	========	========	
Cuba-----------	--------638	----607675	---11204000	---110860	----5.76	----5.48	-----952	
Canada---------	------16900	--21387132	---34207000	--9976140	----1.69	----2.14	----1266	
Chile----------	-------2653	---3375523	---17114000	---756950	-----3.5	----4.46	----1272	
Oman-----------	--------550	----804233	----2905000	---212460	----2.59	----3.79	----1462	
Iraq-----------	-------2227	---3391057	---31467000	---437072	-----5.1	----7.76	----1523	
Croatia--------	-------1280	---1969587	----4435056	----56542	---22.64	---34.83	----1539	
Arab Emirates--	-------1392	---2260000	----4707000	----82880	----16.8	---27.27	----1624	
Macedonia------	--------198	----355131	----2058539	----25713	-----7.7	---13.81	----1794	
Cameroon-------	--------240	----443018	---19958000	---475440	-----0.5	----0.93	----1846	
Syria----------	-------1103	---2070357	---22505000	---185180	----5.96	---11.18	----1877	
Spain----------	------16214	--31086035	---46951532	---504782	---32.12	---61.58	----1917	
Saudi Arabia---	-------3348	---6599216	---26246000	--1960582	----1.71	----3.37	----1971	
China----------	------97355	---207 mil	--1.339 mld	--9596960	---10.14	---21.58	----2127	
El Salvador----	--------327	----715345	----6194000	----21040	---15.54	------34	----2188	
Slovenia-------	--------598	---1374900	----2062700	----20273	----29.5	---67.82	----2299	
Denmark--------	-------1340	---3108962	----5540241	----43094	---31.09	---72.14	----2320	
Morocco--------	-------1194	---2791004	---31892000	---446550	----2.67	----6.25	----2338	
Albania--------	--------170	----419893	----3195000	----28748	----5.91	---14.61	----2470	
Hungary--------	-------1361	---3608834	---10013628	----93030	---14.63	---38.79	----2652	
Cyprus---------	--------273	----774492	-----801851	-----9250	---29.51	---83.73	----2837	
Cote d'Ivoire--	--------162	----474873	---21571000	---322460	-----0.5	----1.47	----2931	
Sweden---------	-------1740	---5231589	----9366092	---449964	----3.87	---11.63	----3007	
France---------	------11392	--34276000	---65447374	---547030	---20.83	---62.66	----3009	
Luxembourg-----	--------147	----444353	-----502207	-----2586	---56.84	--171.83	----3023	
Venezuela------	-------1256	---4051705	---28888000	---912050	----1.38	----4.44	----3226	
Portugal-------	-------2647	---8730885	---10636888	----92391	---28.65	----94.5	----3298	
United States--	------75008	-258.9 mil	--309975000	--9629091	----7.79	---26.89	----3452	
Pakistan-------	-------2225	---7853022	--170260000	---803940	----2.77	----9.77	----3529	
Austria--------	-------1720	---6091881	----8372930	----83858	---20.51	---72.65	----3542	
Ireland--------	--------663	---2416387	----4459300	----70280	----9.43	---34.38	----3645	
Kuwait---------	--------420	---1570000	----3051000	----17820	---23.57	----88.1	----3738	
Greece---------	-------2085	---7910565	---11306183	---131940	----15.8	---59.96	----3794	
Germany--------	------12845	--50184000	---81757600	---357021	---35.98	--140.56	----3907	
Serbia---------	--------618	---2419569	----7209764	----88361	----6.99	---27.38	----3915	
Belgium--------	-------1763	---7050618	---10827519	----30510	---57.78	--231.09	----3999	
Slovakia-------	--------580	---2339358	----5426645	----48845	---11.87	---47.89	----4033	
Switzerland----	-------1361	---5524496	----7782900	----41290	---32.96	---133.8	----4059	
Netherlands----	-------2274	---9340006	---16609518	----41526	---54.76	--224.92	----4107	
Lithuania------	--------417	---1910373	----3329227	----65200	-----6.4	----29.3	----4581	
Korea (South)--	-------4044	--19710776	---49773145	----98480	---41.06	--200.15	----4874	
South Africa---	-------1927	---9587781	---49991300	--1219912	----1.58	----7.86	----4975	
Mexico---------	-------6144	--30904659	--108396211	--1972550	----3.11	---15.67	----5030	
Belarus--------	--------750	---3829244	----9471900	---207600	----3.61	---18.45	----5106	
Uruguay--------	--------252	---1287012	----3372000	---176200	----1.43	-----7.3	----5107	
Mauritius------	---------75	----384115	----1297000	-----2040	---36.76	--188.29	----5122	
Bulgaria-------	--------625	---3284837	----7576751	---110910	----5.64	---29.62	----5256	
Tunisia--------	--------262	---1489075	---10432500	---163610	-----1.6	-----9.1	----5683	
United Kingdom-	-------6016	--35170629	---62041708	---244820	---24.57	--143.66	----5846	
Singapore------	--------161	----945829	----4987600	------693	--232.32	-1364.83	----5875	
Brazil---------	------11000	--64817974	--193364000	--8511965	----1.29	----7.61	----5893	
Egypt----------	--------988	---5853728	---78848000	--1001450	----0.99	----5.85	----5925	
Gabon----------	---------30	----195000	----1501000	---267667	----0.11	----0.73	----6500	
Estonia--------	---------99	----664644	----1340021	----45226	----2.19	----14.7	----6714	
Zambia---------	---------50	----337513	---13257000	---752614	----0.07	----0.45	----6750	
Czech Republic-	-------1050	---7262647	---10512397	----78866	---13.31	---92.09	----6917	
Argentina------	-------2000	--14163125	---40518951	--2766890	----0.72	----5.12	----7082	
Turkey---------	-------2100	--15095603	---72561312	---780580	----2.69	---19.34	----7188	
Finland--------	--------739	---5331582	----5366100	---337030	----2.19	---15.82	----7215	
Romania--------	--------647	---5027936	---21466174	---237500	----2.72	---21.17	----7771	
Italy----------	-------6661	--52586499	---60340328	---301230	---22.11	--174.57	----7895	
Iceland--------	---------37	----296479	-----317900	---103000	----0.36	----2.88	----8013	
Poland---------	-------2549	--22024697	---38167329	---312685	----8.15	---70.44	----8641	
Kenya----------	--------153	---1389864	---40863000	---582650	----0.26	----2.39	----9084	
Australia------	-------1700	--16061098	---23480970	--7686850	----0.22	----2.09	----9448	
Lebanon--------	--------145	---1525738	----4255000	----10400	---13.94	--146.71	---10522	
Malaysia-------	-------1821	--20188565	---28306700	---329750	----5.52	---61.22	---11087	
Peru-----------	--------276	---3155614	---29461933	--1285220	----0.21	----2.46	---11433	
Japan----------	-------7383	--89871090	--127380000	---377835	---19.54	--237.86	---12173	
Bosnia---------	---------64	----815232	----3760000	----51129	----1.25	---15.94	---12738	
Jamaica--------	---------33	----502265	----2730000	----10991	-------3	----45.7	---15220	
Bahrain--------	---------30	----462015	-----807000	------665	---45.11	--694.76	---15401	
Norway---------	--------194	---3134652	----4896700	---324220	-----0.6	----9.67	---16158	
Israel---------	--------146	---2458716	----7602400	----20770	----7.03	--118.38	---16841	
New Zealand----	--------171	---3227000	----4383600	---268680	----0.64	---12.01	---18871	
Sri Lanka------	--------180	---3954311	---20410000	----65610	----2.74	---60.27	---21968	
Iran-----------	--------751	--20657627	---75078000	--1648000	----0.46	---12.53	---27507	
Guatemala------	---------75	---2118516	---14377000	---108890	----0.69	---19.46	---28247	
Russia---------	-------1400	--43325312	--141927297	---17 mil	----0.08	----2.54	---30947	
Ghana----------	---------35	---1122700	---24333000	---239460	----0.15	----4.69	---32077	
Senegal--------	----------7	----326352	---12861000	---196190	----0.04	----1.66	---46622	
Georgia--------	---------13	----736470	----4436000	----69700	----0.19	---10.57	---56652	
Ukraine--------	--------200	--14427680	---45871738	---603700	----0.33	----23.9	---72138	
India----------	-------1208	-114.9 mil	--1.184 mld	--3287590	----0.37	---34.97	---95159


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

By 'highway' I think you mean 'motorway', and not the actual definition of highway; any (major) public highway?

A nice attempt at comparison. I don't know where you got the figures for motorway length, but not all of them are correct. For instance, Canada has much less motorways (around 7,200 km) while Saudi Arabia has closer to 9,000 km. The U.S. figure includes only Interstate Highways while they have another 22,000 km of other freeways. The figure for Turkey seems to include only the 'otoyol' and not dual carriageways, while the Brazilian figure seems to include all dual carriageways.

Comparing accurately is quite difficult.


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^Yes, but is the premise itself valid?

I've been waiting for a reaction from someone more knowledgeable than I am....


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

Here is the site where I took the figures for motorway length:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Road/Motorway-length


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

^^ Road infrastructure is more complex. Motorway lengths are not a good base. Hungary is a transit country. It needs it's long motorways through rural area. The Netherlands has a lot of wide motorways (2x4, 2x5 lanes), Hungary only 2x2 but both count identical in your calculation. Germany has a lot of expressways which are not included in 12,800km motorway network. Etc.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

The nationmaster data has no consistency. For one country they only count roads with official motorway status, in another they count all expressways as well and in other countries they count all divided highways as well (which is for example why the Canadian figure is so high). 

I don't think you can really judge whether a country has too few or too many highways by just looking at statistical data. In some countries, a few motorway corridors can serve most cities (Italy, UK), while in others you need a very large network to connect all larger cities (Spain, Germany, United States). 

Some cities have very extensive suburban motorway networks (Madrid, Paris) while others have a small to non-existent suburban network (London, Rome, Warsaw). The Netherlands and Belgium are examples that fall in between; dense networks for a country, but small for an urban area. 

In other countries, building new links is more cost-efficient than widening existing ones, resulting in a fairly large network relative to population size. 

Another factor is that countries like to connect all sizable cities by motorway. That can result in a motorway for 20,000 vehicles per day, but also in a motorway with 60,000 or 80,0000 vehicles per day. It's the same statistically, but very different in usage.


----------



## Luki_SL (Apr 11, 2005)

BTW Poland has over 3 000 km highways (motorways+expressways) now


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

As I was looking at the figures, I thought of Interstate 29, passing through sparsely populated areas of North Dakota and ending right at the U.S.-Canadian border...50 miles or so short of a city of 600,000.

Yes, that's just one example, but I-15's in a similar situation...serving sparsely populated areas of the U.S. then not connecting to Calgary. So the notion that Canada has two many highways seems inconsistent with those two examples.

Then I saw the idea of enough taxpayers to support maintenance and realized that in federal states like the U.S. and Canada, I'm not sure to what extent that notion is valid. (Are the U.S. states/Canadian provinces responsible for their highways, financially speaking? Are there federal subsidies to them? I don't know. I do know that the building of the Interstates was federally financed and I'd guess that's why Montana and North Dakota have freeways in the middle of nowhere while Alberta and Manitoba don't....)

Nothing against the original poster, but I think this is one of those things that can't be resolved by simple math.


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

Luki_SL said:


> BTW Poland has over 3 000 km highways (motorways+expressways) now


Expressways do not have a clear definition. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited-access_road which states: "The precise definition of these terms varies by jurisdiction." So, we do not know if an expressway in Poland is identical to a German, US, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese one.



Penn's Woods said:


> So the notion that Canada has two many highways seems inconsistent with those two examples.


Another source ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OECD_countries_by_road_network_size ) says: "Canada has 16900 km of motorways". 
However, if the figure is wrong and Canada has much less km then we can simply ignore it in the table till we find the right figure. For some countries there can be mistakes.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Yep, expresways vary from country to country. In many cases they are four-lane highways, but they may or may not be access-controlled, and in some countries there are also super-two expressways (Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Portugal). In fact, the term expressway even varies within countries, for example the U.S. MUTCD defines an expressway as a four-lane divided highway, but the term is used in the eastern United States to indicate what would otherwise be called a freeway. Motorways in many Asian countries are called expressways in English (Japan, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, India, etc.)

The most common definition for a motorway is a 'four-lane divided highway with full control of access', i.e. only access through grade-separated interchanges. This includes expressways in many countries.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

usbhub said:


> till we find the right figure.


You'll never find the "right" figure.

In addition, you can't equalize motorways with an AADT of 200,000 AADT or 2,000 vehicles/day.


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

ChrisZwolle said:


> Yep, expresways vary from country to country. In many cases they are four-lane highways, but they may or may not be access-controlled, and in some countries there are also super-two expressways (Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Portugal). In fact, the term expressway even varies within countries, for example the U.S. MUTCD defines an expressway as a four-lane divided highway, but the term is used in the eastern United States to indicate what would otherwise be called a freeway. Motorways in many Asian countries are called expressways in English (Japan, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, India, etc.)
> 
> The most common definition for a motorway is a 'four-lane divided highway with full control of access', i.e. only access through grade-separated interchanges. This includes expressways in many countries.


I finally convinced you of that. ;-)

Seriously, I've taken to using the word "motorway" around here to avoid the expressway/freeway issue. But among Americans I don't, because we don't use the word.


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

MichiH said:


> You'll never find the "right" figure.
> In addition, you can't equalize motorways with an AADT of 200,000 AADT or 2,000 vehicles/day.


 A +/- 10% error will not be a big problem. The country will change its place with a few positions. 
If Canada has 7200 km and not 16900 km then the number of cars per km of motorway will be 2970 instead of 1266 which will move Canada close to France and no so far from US.

Regarding the traffic the point is that a motorway visited by only 2000 vehicles a day is not justified.
If the 200 000 car a day motorway is 2x2 then I can equalize it with a (2x2, 2000 vehicle a day) if it is 2x4 the it should count as 2 x (2x2, 2000 vehicle a day). To take into account the width of motorways and transform everything in its 2x2 equivalent I need data for each country which I haven't found till now.
Anyway, by supposing that a maximum of 10-15% of the total length of motorways in a country might be something different from a 2x2, that will not change the hierarchy too much.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

usbhub said:


> Regarding the traffic the point is that a motorway visited by only 2000 vehicles a day is not justified.


But it exists!

A section on German A565 (2,400), a section on German A20 (2,500), a section on German A480 (3,200). There are more examples east of Germany, in Spain, in Portugal,...


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

usbhub said:


> To take into account the width of motorways and transform everything in its 2x2 equivalent I need data for each country which I haven't found till now.


Well, if you want to start counting... Here you can see the number of lanes on German Autobahns: http://autobahnatlas-online.de/Strecken_e.htm (Legend).


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

MichiH said:


> But it exists!
> There are more examples ... in Spain, in Portugal


Here is the problem, Spain and Portugal have oversized motorway networks.
Two motorways going in parallel from Lisbon to Porto, sometimes coming as close as 500 m apart (see: http://goo.gl/maps/7oKWS ) and none of them being full of cars (as Google Street View or satellite pictures show) tells that something is wrong with Portugal regarding its network of highways. They built too much.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

^^ Ok, factor it into your calculation instead of counting the length of the so-called "motorway" network only.

Edit: According to your calculation, Portugal does not have too much motorways (3298). It's almost on the same level like Serbia (3915) or Germany (3907). In addition, Serbia and Germany on the same level.... hno:


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

The table I posted does not have a clear level that separates the countries with too many km of highways from the rest. 

This remark: 
"analysts see Portugal’s empty stretches of motorway as evidence of ill-advised public spending"
Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/59949c24-0a3a-11e3-9cec-00144feabdc0.html

could mean that the list of states possessing highways beyond their real needs can go from Cuba down to at least Portugal.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

In Portugal's case they introduced tolls on nearly all motorways. I believe traffic went down by 40% on some stretches where they introduced tolls.


----------



## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

usbhub said:


> The answer is that if a state has enough vehicles/km (~taxpayers/km) for maintaining the highways in good shape then it can afford them if not it is better to stay with its network of ordinary roads and leave the highways for the future.


That depends on how wealthy the taxpayers are, doesn't it? I'm not sure Cuba can afford its motorway network, but Denmark can, no? On the other hand, can Côte d'Ivoire really afford its motorways?


----------



## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

aswnl said:


> There's much more that defines whether there's need for a motorway: traffic safety, economic growth, relieve of traffic congestion.


Of course, but I think this thread is about whether countries can _afford_ their motorways.


----------



## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

Verso said:


> Of course, but I think this thread is about whether countries can _afford_ their motorways.


If that's the question, then the table is using the wrong data. The affordability of the motorways doesn't depend directly on the the number of cars, but on the size of the economy.
The amount of cars could depend on the size of the economy, but in the case of Cuba, it doesn't, because of the boycot.
If you want to know if a country can afford its motorways, you have to look at the real infrastructure expenses and the real size of the country's economy.


----------



## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

verfmeer said:


> If that's the question, then the table is using the wrong data. The affordability of the motorways doesn't depend directly on the the number of cars, but on the size of the economy.
> The amount of cars could depend on the size of the economy, but in the case of Cuba, it doesn't, because of the boycot.
> If you want to know if a country can afford its motorways, you have to look at the real infrastructure expenses and the real size of the country's economy.


Cuba could import cars from countries other than the USA. The problem is that most people earn less than 1$ a day, so cars are a luxury for the general public.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

Verso said:


> Of course, but I think this thread is about whether countries can _afford_ their motorways.


Which does not depend on population or surface but on costs, e.g. construction costs, maintenance costs and economical benefit.


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

italystf said:


> Cuba could import cars from countries other than the USA. The problem is that most people earn less than 1$ a day, so cars are a luxury for the general public.


Cuba:
- One-way Ticket (Local Transport) - 0.04 $
- Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 24.93 $

Spain:
- One-way Ticket (Local Transport) - 1.59 $ 
- Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 1,359 $

The real salary in Cuba is in fact (1.59 / 0.04) * 24.93 $ = 991 $ which means that cubans live with a value of 32 $/day not 1 $!

Regarding imports, as long as they can maintain their fleet of 607 675 cars with local resources, imports are not needed.


----------



## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

usbhub said:


> Cuba:
> - One-way Ticket (Local Transport) - 0.04 $
> - Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 24.93 $
> 
> ...


Yes, but if they want to import cars from abroad (eg. Europe), they need to pay the full retail price.


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

verfmeer said:


> If that's the question, then the table is using the wrong data. The affordability of the motorways doesn't depend directly on the the number of cars, but on the size of the economy ....
> If you want to know if a country can afford its motorways, you have to look at the real infrastructure expenses and the real size of the country's economy.


If you want calculations based on the economy then we can make them. Assuming that Germany, for its 3,730,261 million US$ GDP, has exactly the right amount of highways, 12845 km, then the Netherlands should have 2939 km, more than it possesses, while Hungary just 447 km, much less than it really has.

*Km highway some countries should have based on the size of their economy (GDP):*
Country-----	GDP(mil. US$)	Km highway
============	=============	==========
*Germany*---	----3,730,261 -----12845
Netherlands-	------853,539	------2939
Poland------	------525,863	------1810
Portugal----	------227,324	-------782
Hungary-----	------129,989	-------447
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) for GDP

*Km highway some countries should have based on the number of cars:*
Country-----	-----Cars----	Km highway
============	============= ===========	
*Germany*---	---50,184,000	------12845
Netherlands-	----9,340,006	-------2390
Poland------	---22,024,697	-------5637
Portugal----	----8,730,885	-------2234
Hungary-----	----3,608,834	--------924

In conclusion, the predictions for the total length of the motorways network, calculated starting from the size of their economies (GDPs), tell that Poland, Portugal and Hungary have already built too many highways. These evaluations are much worse than those based on the number of cars.


----------



## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

Germany may have just the right length of motorways, but that doesn't mean it can't afford more. Why did you pick Germany anyway?


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

Verso said:


> Why did you pick Germany anyway?


Considering that:

L(i) = the length of motorways in the country "i"
GDP(i) = the Gross Domestic Product of country "i"

where i = Germany, France, Spain, UK and Italy, a group of representative European countries,

instead of equations like:

GDP (Germany) / L(Germany) = GDP (Hungary) / L(Hungary) where L(Hungary) is the unknown,

I could have taken an average:

[ GDP(1)/L(1)) + ... + GDP/L ] / n = GDP (Hungary) / L(Hungary) and solve for L(Hungary).

Even calculating starting from this average, the length of motorways for Hungary (and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe) will result shorter than it is know.


----------



## Kanadzie (Jan 3, 2014)

usbhub said:


> Cuba:
> - One-way Ticket (Local Transport) - 0.04 $
> - Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 24.93 $
> 
> ...


But this is not correct - you are comparing public transit only to obtain PPP! :bash:

But see for example here, used car prices : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-25595674

Cuba:
- Peugeot 508 - 262 000 $
- Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 24.93 $

Spain:
- Peugeot 508 - 27 300 $ (ref peugeot.es for basismodel and USD/EUR exchange)
- Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) - 1,359 $


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

Kanadzie said:


> Cuba:
> - Peugeot 508 - 262 000 $


This price is a masked form of embargo against Peugeot and other car manufacturers.

The GDP/capita in Cuba is higher than in other countries that have enough new cars (see the table below).

*GDP/capita for some countries:*
==============	=========
--Country-----	GDP Int$/capita
==============	=========
Cuba----------	----18796
Venezuela-----	----18198
Belarus-------	----17620
Lebanon-------	----17174
Bulgaria------	----15732
Iran----------	----15590
Brazil--------	----15037
Iraq----------	----14951
Montenegro----	----14132
Serbia--------	----13020
S. Africa-----	----12507
China---------	----11907
Jordan--------	----11785
Macedonia-----	----11612
Egypt---------	----11089
Bosnia--------	-----9536
Ukraine-------	-----8790
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

There would not be a problem for Cubans to have as much (new) cars/1000 people as China, Serbia, Belarus, etc.. The problem is that cars waste too much resources. Who has a greater standard of living, one without a car working 2 km away from where he lives or somebody working in the same place, having the same job but living 25 km away and being obliged to travel each day by car at least 50 km?


----------



## aubergine72 (Jul 27, 2014)

^^

I don't trust those numbers at all.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

usbhub said:


> Assuming that Germany, for its 3,730,261 million US$ GDP, has exactly the right amount of highways, 12845 km


Why do you use "amount of highways" now? I guess you mean lengths of motorways, don't you?

Assuming........ Why should Germany be the benchmark? I absolutely don't agree.

In addtion, what's the definition of motorway (German: Autobahn)? Highway means main road. Hence, you should add tenthousands km of 2-laned German Bundesstraßen too (there are many with AADT > 20,000 vehicles/day; if I'm not mistaken no. 99, B27 north of Heilbronn should be the busiest 2-laned B road with 46,300 vehicles/day in 2010, thereof 2000 trucks).

At minimum, you should add the German yellow Autobahns (I already wrote that in the Romanian thread but it was deleted). Anyway, German yellow Autobahns have the same (or partial better) road standard than blue Autobahns. The length of blue Autobahns is about 12,800km. The length of yellow Autobahns is more than 2,000km.

Your conclusion, the German Autobahn network has not the right length can't be true because Germany itself builds and plans an extension of its network! More than 200km are currently u/c, more than 800km are planned. You have to use minimum 16,000km for your calculation subject to the condition that you show why the German network can be called "sufficient" and can be used as benchmark!


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

For people who do not like Germany as a reference, the average GDP/km highway for a few countries can be taken. However, the final results will not differ too much from the estimates based only on Germany as a model to follow.

*The average GDP/ km highway of fife important countries in Europe:*
===========	================	==============	=========== 
Country----	GDP mil. USD----	Km highway----	GDP/km----
===========	================	==============	===========
Germany----	---------3730261	---------12845	-------290
France-----	---------2806432	---------11392	-------246
UK---------	---------2678455	----------6016	-------445
Italy------	---------2149485	----------6661	-------323
Spain------	---------1358263	---------16900	--------80
===========	================	==============	==========
Average----	----------------	--------------	-------277

*The estimated total length of the motorways network, for a few European countries, based on the average GDP/km highway of Germany, France, UK, Italy and Spain which is 277 mil. USD/km:*
===============	================	==============
Country--------	GDP mil. USD----	Km highway----
===============	================	==============
Germany--------	---------3730261	---------13466
France---------	---------2806432	---------10131
UK-------------	---------2678455	----------9669
Italy----------	---------2149485	----------7760
Spain----------	---------1358263	----------4903
Netherlands----	----------853539	----------3081
Poland---------	----------525863	----------1898
Portugal-------	----------227324	-----------821
Hungary--------	----------129989	-----------469

As you can remark, the calculations show (see also the large table in the first post) that Spain, Portugal and Hungary should have build much less motorways than they have now.


----------



## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

usbhub said:


> As you can see the calculations show (see also the big table in the first post) that Spain, Portugal and Hungary should have build much less km of motorways than they have now.


Aside from exceptional assumptions... Infrastructure is built in advance to provide a technical possibilty of economical growth. So you don't expect any economical growth in these countries? You don't grant them a better economy/GDP?


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^(Um, is it possible we're all taking this thread a bit too seriously? At this point, I'm just lurking, slightly bemused.)


----------



## usbhub (Jun 2, 2013)

MichiH said:


> So you don't expect any economical growth in these countries? You don't grant them a better economy/GDP?


Hungary:
GDP - 129,989 mil. USD
Km highway estimated from its GDP - 469 km (see my last post) 
Km highway Hungary already has - 1361 km

Hungary would really need 1361 km when its GDP reaches 129,989 mil. USD * (1361/469) = 377,217 mil. USD which means that Hungary has to pass in front of: Venezuela, South Africa, Denmark, Singapore, Hong Kong, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Romania, Ukraine, Kuwait, regarding the total GDP.
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
I do not believe that such a spectacular growth will happen in Hungary any time soon.

Motorways deteriorate in time, so you do not build them now just because some people believe they will be of real need after 2065!


----------

