IF ONLY everyone drove considerately, there’d be fewer traffic jams and we’d
all get to our destination more quickly, according to a new model of traffic
flow.
The ideal way to keep cars moving when roads get busy is for all the cars to
move together at a similar speed. By including “thoughtful” drivers in their
model, researchers have managed to recreate this elusive “synchronised
flow”.
Traffic can be in one of three states: free flowing, synchronised or jammed.
Synchronised flow is often observed on busy motorways, but until now no one knew
how cars synchronise
(New Scientist, 15 January…
