The traffic is zero, so let's talk about what causes it

Studying the traffic, that is really studying people. After all, it is our vehicles, our habits, and the natural reactions to stimuli (or lack thereof) that cause the traffic in the first place. A traffic phenomenon that continues to annoy us as a driver is what is called a "ghost traffic jam" and unlike a jam that results from something that physically obstructs the road, it's a jam that start in our minds before ruining our day. 19659002] The Vanderbilt University and Ford are working to find a solution to these ghost traffic jams, and surprisingly, their solution is to use something that is already quite common on modern vehicles: Adaptive Cruise Control

name, right?) starts when one or more drivers at the head of a group of cars applies the brakes. By seeing the brake lights, the people behind them are slowing down naturally, and although it may be relatively simple to go back, there is already a driving effect on the road from the brake light to the eyeball and the time it takes to brake, re-accelerate and then re-establish a safe distance continues to grow.

How does Adaptive Cruise Control solve this ripple problem? Easy: It takes human reaction time out of the equation. Instead of waiting for a driver to see the brake lights, slow down, determine that it is possible to accelerate, accelerate and restore the next distance, the system of Adaptive cruise control uses a radar to immediately detect that the next vehicle is slowing down and braking proportionally to maintain a safe distance. The car behind this car does the same thing, and because everything happens automatically and human reaction times are not a factor, we do not get the same driving factor growing.

Cool, is not it? We think so

But the science of trafficking is not limited to ghost jams. It's also about understanding ways to lighten the traffic before it happens. You would think that the solution to more traffic would be more lanes on the highway. More roads mean that traffic density is decreasing, right? Apparently no, thanks to a phenomenon called latent demand. The latent demand is the idea that if you widen a highway to reduce the density of traffic, people who would otherwise have stayed in the surface streets will now fill the available space on the highway, this which will cancel the benefit of having more lanes.

to the particular road traffic that actually seems to work is the extent of the ramp. It is these traffic lights in the middle of a highway that only allow one or two cars to go at a time. This reduces the influx of new vehicles on the highway, thus preventing large clods on the ramps and reducing traffic.

The excellent Stuff You Should Know podcast made an episode about traffic in 2010 and in this episode, they talk much more deeply about problems such as traffic causes and ways to reduce it, including congestion charge triggered traffic lights. Defining a definite piece of your day, perhaps while driving, and listen to this episode. This will change your look on the traffic.