Functional and Contextual Classification Concept for Road Network in Thailand: Preliminary Study

Roadway classification is a fundamental step in planning and design of road network for the movement of people and goods. It helps classify the roads according to the road hierarchy and determine the proper design (physical characteristics and environmental context) of the roads, as well as the responsibilities of the relevant agencies. However, each country has different road classification systems. Most of traditional systems mainly focus on the road functions, while disregard environmental and neighboring circumstances. In Thailand, such system results in the overdesign or underdesign of a facility and inappropriate use of roads by all road users. This study presents the concept of road classification system based on both road functions and context setting, and adopt it to the road network in Thailand. The preliminary result showed the disparity of road classes among road function and context settings.