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Traffic can quickly turn into a nightmare. There’s almost nothing more frustrating than being stuck in gridlock for hours, and it’s even more aggravating when there doesn’t seem to be any reason behind it. However, traffic has a strange and intriguing science to it. While knowing this might not make sitting in traffic any less frustrating, it can help you avoid some common mistakes many drivers make.
10. Our Merging Habits Contribute to Traffic Woes
Whether you're merging into traffic from the left or right, you’re probably doing it wrong and inadvertently creating more issues. When drivers notice they need to merge, their instinct is to do so immediately. They tend to brake, slow down, speed up, and weave through traffic, making it worse. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, this behavior is exactly what causes congestion. Sudden deceleration results in backups, which become even more problematic when combined with unexpected lane changes and other vehicles braking to accommodate merging traffic.
So, what’s the solution? Exactly what you might be cursing other drivers for doing: waiting until the last possible moment. By doing this, traffic will naturally flow into a pattern known as a 'zipper merge.' This means no unexpected surprises, no abrupt braking, and a much smoother transition from one lane to another, which ultimately reduces traffic jams. Of course, this requires other drivers to be considerate enough to let you merge without cutting you off, which can lead to even more problems.
9. The Connection Between Daylight Savings Time and Accidents
Daylight savings time is not just a minor inconvenience; it’s actually the most hazardous period to be on the road. The adjustment period that follows the springtime shift results in a 6–17 percent rise in accidents during the following days. After a week, when most drivers have adjusted, the accident rates tend to drop, mainly due to longer daylight hours.
While it's easy to understand that a loss of an hour of sleep leads to more accidents, a similar rise in traffic accidents has been recorded in the fall surrounding the time change. This is because many people decide to spend their extra hour socializing and engaging in recreational activities, including drinking alcohol.
8. You’re the One Causing the Traffic Jams You Dread
Traffic jams have long been attributed to the sheer number of vehicles on the road. However, it turns out that even in heavy traffic, things can flow much more smoothly if drivers keep a consistent speed. The issue is that we often fail to do this. Research from the University of Exeter shows that even one driver tapping their brakes can cause significant disruptions to the surrounding traffic.
On even moderately busy roads, it only takes a few moments for traffic to come to a complete standstill when one driver lightly taps their brakes to allow another vehicle to merge. The backup typically occurs several minutes after the initial braking, long after the driver who caused the delay has already moved on.
7. Traffic Jams Shaped the Way Our Cities Were Built
In the past, cities were typically built around a single central hub where most businesses were concentrated. Today, however, most cities have expanded into sprawling areas with multiple commercial districts, largely as a result of traffic jams. Researchers from the Institute of Theoretical Physics in France studied 9,000 cities across the United States to understand how and when suburbs began to emerge, how commercial areas outside the city core grew, and the ease of access to the heart of the city.
Their findings show that businesses often move to the outskirts of a city when traveling into the city center becomes too challenging. In fact, cities that remain centralized the longest usually have some form of reliable mass transit system, making it easy to access all parts of the downtown area. Using traffic patterns as a tool for urban planning can be crucial for the success of both commercial and residential districts.
6. The Horse Manure Problem
While the problems of modern traffic might be new, the transportation methods of the olden days had their share of issues. Anyone who thinks that traffic pollution is a modern invention should look at the problems that befell London at the turn of the century. In the late 1800s, almost all traffic was horse-drawn, resulting in 11,000 horse-drawn carriages and several thousand 12-horse buses making their way across the London streets every day.
All of those horses produced manure—about 7–15 kilograms (15–35 lb) of it per day, to be exact. In 1894, it was estimated that it would have only taken 50 years for the manure to cover all of London’s streets almost 3 meters (9 ft) deep. Other major cities, like New York, had similar problems. New York City’s horses produced an average of 1 million kilograms (2.5 million lb) of manure each day, requiring the city to spend a lot of money cleaning it up.
Something had to be done about it, and the result was the first international urban planning conference ever held. When no solution was reached, the landscape was looking bleak. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the advent of the car solved the problem. It arguably brought an entirely new set of problems with it, but things could have been different if the electric cars of Victorian London had been more economical.
5. Parking Meters Were Designed To Control Traffic
Nowadays, parking meters are a nuisance. They're rarely accurate, you can never seem to find change when you need it, and many of them don't even work. However, when they were first introduced, they weren’t simply a way for the city to make quick money. They were actually designed to manage the increasing traffic flow that was quickly overtaking city centers.
Most cities weren’t initially planned with cars in mind. When the first streets were built, automobiles were still a thing of the future. After cars became commonplace, drivers simply parked wherever they could. Office workers parked along the streets in downtown areas, leaving no spaces for shoppers or short-term visitors. This led to issues like double-parking and heavy traffic congestion.
The first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City in 1935 with the purpose of preventing people from parking on the streets all day. This allowed for better access for shoppers and encouraged workers to use public transportation or alternative modes of travel. As a result, traffic congestion decreased, stores and restaurants became more accessible, the city made money for improvements, and a few new jobs were created to enforce parking rules.
4. How Billboards Affect Your Driving
Distracted driving is hazardous, which is why many places prohibit talking on the phone while driving. But there’s another common highway feature causing its own set of problems: the billboard. Research at the Institute for Road Safety Research in the Netherlands has shown that drivers tend to focus less on the road and other vehicles when billboards are present.
The research also revealed that most people are better at recalling the billboards they passed rather than the traffic signs they just saw. The presence of billboards leads to an increase in instances of veering into other lanes, misjudging distances between cars, and making unsafe driving choices. The issue is worsening with the rise of digital billboards.
Researchers at the University of Granada found that the last billboard seen before approaching a yellow light can influence your decision to either stop or keep driving. Individuals exposed to billboards or ads with negative content, like images of accidents or abuse, were more likely to stop at the yellow light. In contrast, cheerful, happy billboards encouraged people to run the light.
3. Traffic Patterns Resemble the Behavior of Bacteria and Slime Mold
Next time you're navigating a maze of one-way streets, trying to escape a roundabout, or cutting across several lanes of traffic to make an exit, take solace in knowing that the person who designed these roads shares similarities with both E. coli and slime mold.
In an effort to address Tokyo’s traffic woes, researchers from Hokkaido University created a 'mold-friendly map' of the area, with food representing other cities, lights as obstacles, and slime mold serving as the roadways. They placed the slime mold where Tokyo is located on the map and observed as it spread to find food sources while avoiding the lights. The pattern that emerged closely resembled Tokyo’s railways and roadways. As the slime mold matured, it optimized its path, eliminating inefficient areas, leading researchers to consider the possibility that slime mold patterns could help improve traffic flow and road design.
Slime mold isn’t the only organism that mimics roadways. While studying how E. coli secures food sources, an Ohio State professor observed that although the bacteria moves randomly, it spends more time swimming toward its food than away from it. This might seem simple, but in reality, it represents a complex natural optimization of movement. It has been suggested that this concept could be applied to roads and traffic, helping to optimize the timing of traffic lights. China has already started exploring the 'Bacterial Foraging Optimization' method, inspired by E. coli, to avoid traffic jams like the 12-day congestion they experienced in 2010.
2. The Myth That More Lanes Equals Less Traffic
The addition of a new lane on an eternally congested highway typically brings about two emotions: frustration at the existing delay and hope that traffic will lessen once the construction is complete. Sadly, this rarely turns out to be the case. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the relationship between road expansions and traffic volumes over a 10-year span, finding that traffic actually increased after new lanes were added.
The common theory behind this paradox is that when traveling becomes easier, people tend to travel more. On the flip side, if lanes are reduced or side streets are eliminated, traffic will adjust in a way that makes the situation no better or worse than it was before. This concept has been tested in notoriously congested cities like Paris and San Francisco.
Recent studies suggest that the solution isn’t to make roads more accessible, but rather to make their use a privilege. Cities like London are implementing this approach by charging a fee for road usage, and it’s proving effective. People are more likely to combine trips, opt for public transit, or choose alternatives like biking or walking when they’re required to pay to use the roads.
1. Finland’s Unique Sliding Scale Ticket System
In many areas, speeding fines depend on factors like how fast you were driving and how many past offenses you've accumulated. Finland, however, has taken a unique approach. Rather than fixed fines, speeding penalties are now determined by a sliding scale based on the individual's income. In the past, police had to trust offenders to honestly report their salaries, but now they can directly access the national tax database to verify earnings.
Several other European nations have also embraced similar systems. In Switzerland, speeding fines can reach up to $1 million, while in Germany, the maximum fine soars to $16 million. One of the highest fines ever issued was a $290,000 ticket to a Swiss man whose Ferrari was caught driving at twice the speed limit in a small village. However, even this amount pales compared to the potential fine faced by a Swedish driver, who could be forced to pay as much as $962,000.
