Roads thumb|alt=View of the Krung Thep Bridge at night with many skyscrapers in the background|Krung Thep Bridge spanning the Chao Phraya river Road-based transport is the primary mode of travel in Bangkok. Due to the city's organic development, its streets do not follow an organized grid structure. Forty-eight major roads link the different areas of the city, branching into smaller streets and lanes (soi) which serve local neighbourhoods. Eleven bridges over the Chao Phraya link the two sides of the city, while several expressway and motorway routes bring traffic into and out of the city centre and link with nearby provinces. The first expressway in Bangkok is Chaloem Maha Nakhon Expressway, which opened 1981. left|thumb|Traffic jams, seen here on Phahonyothin Road, are common in Bangkok. Bangkok's rapid growth in the 1980s resulted in sharp increases in vehicle ownership and traffic demand, which have since continued—in 2006 there were 3,943,211 in-use vehicles in Bangkok, of which 37.6 per cent were private cars and 32.9 per cent were motorcycles. These increases, in the face of limited carrying capacity, caused severe traffic congestion evident by the early 1990s. The extent of the problem is such that the Thai Traffic Police has a unit of officers trained in basic midwifery in order to assist deliveries which do not reach hospital in time. While Bangkok's limited road surface area (8 per cent, compared to 20–30 per cent in most Western cities) is often cited as a major cause of its traffic jams, other factors, including high vehicle ownership rate relative to income level, inadequate public transport systems, and lack of transportation demand management, also play a role. Efforts to alleviate the problem have included the construction of intersection bypasses and an extensive system of elevated highways, as well as the creation of several new rapid transit systems. Plans to implement congestion pricing were announced in 2024. The city's overall traffic conditions, however, remain poor.
roads thumb|alt=view of the krung thep bridge at night with many skyscrapers in the background|krung thep bridge spanning the chao phraya river road-based transport is the primary mode of travel in bangkok due to the city's organic development its streets do not follow an organized grid structure forty-eight major roads link the different areas of the city branching into smaller streets and lanes (soi) which serve local neighbourhoods eleven bridges over the chao phraya link the two sides of the city while several expressway and motorway routes bring traffic into and out of the city centre and link with nearby provinces the first expressway in bangkok is chaloem maha nakhon expressway which opened 1981 left|thumb|traffic jams seen here on phahonyothin road are common in bangkok bangkok's rapid growth in the 1980s resulted in sharp increases in vehicle ownership and traffic demand which have since continued—in 2006 there were 3943211 in-use vehicles in bangkok of which 376 per cent were private cars and 329 per cent were motorcycles these increases in the face of limited carrying capacity caused severe traffic congestion evident by the early 1990s the extent of the problem is such that the thai traffic police has a unit of officers trained in basic midwifery in order to assist deliveries which do not reach hospital in time while bangkok's limited road surface area (8 per cent compared to 20–30 per cent in most western cities) is often cited as a major cause of its traffic jams other factors including high vehicle ownership rate relative to income level inadequate public transport systems and lack of transportation demand management also play a role efforts to alleviate the problem have included the construction of intersection bypasses and an extensive system of elevated highways as well as the creation of several new rapid transit systems plans to implement congestion pricing were announced in 2024 the city's overall traffic conditions however remain poor