When you improve the roads, especially when you widen them to make more lanes, you’d think this would ease the flow of traffic. But that is so only if the number of cars traveling down that road stays relatively the same. The problem is that in reality, widening the road attracts more travelers to that route, and ultimately provides the infrastructure that encourages an increase in the local population. So then you have more cars on that road than you did before you did the repairs and you again get cars that are not moving. The key to keeping cars from stopping or slowing on the freeways is to put plenty of space between your vehicle and the one in front of it. At least two seconds. The reasons this works is because it allows merging cars to fit in without stopping to wait for enough space to squeeze in, and so the car you merged in front of doesn’t have to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting you, and the car directly behind them doesn’t have to come to a screeching halt to avoid slamming in to that car. It prevents the chain reactions that end of in stopped traffic. Even though it’s counter intuitive to take a couple of seconds to slow down when you’re in a hurry to get someplace, it often gets you there sooner by opening up a pocket whereby you can break free from the cohort.
Thank you. I have noticed this phenomenon more times than one. In the late 70s early 80s in Manteca California cal trans built a bypass that took the usual one lane each direction highway that connected Yosemite National Park with San Francisco on a stretch of road called Highway 120. It extended the commute possibilities so that people with jobs in the Bay Area that could not afford to buy a home with affordable housing only an hour away.
But…
When I first moved there pre-bypass days, the traffic used to go through the center of town and would deadlock it sometimes for hours. But hardly anyone cared because people would just get out of their cars and party right on the street in Manteca. The average rent at that time for a one bedroom apartment in Manteca was around $175-200. By 1985, with the bypass completed, commuters began moving and the rents had gone up to around $450. But the population grew so rapidly the infrastructure could not handle it and the city had to put a moratorium on growth. The stopped all residential construction and limited commercial construction. The population had grown from 13,000 in 1979 to 60,000 in 1985! But after it was complete it only took around 3 1/2 hours to get from the Bay Area to Yosemite, compared to all day before the bypass.
Lesson learned: if you build it they will come. In hoards. And not all road improvements add quality of life to those who use the roads. And finally road improvements ruin all the great impromptu street parties.
When you improve the roads, especially when you widen them to make more lanes, you’d think this would ease the flow of traffic. But that is so only if the number of cars traveling down that road stays relatively the same. The problem is that in reality, widening the road attracts more travelers to that route, and ultimately provides the infrastructure that encourages an increase in the local population. So then you have more cars on that road than you did before you did the repairs and you again get cars that are not moving. The key to keeping cars from stopping or slowing on the freeways is to put plenty of space between your vehicle and the one in front of it. At least two seconds. The reasons this works is because it allows merging cars to fit in without stopping to wait for enough space to squeeze in, and so the car you merged in front of doesn’t have to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting you, and the car directly behind them doesn’t have to come to a screeching halt to avoid slamming in to that car. It prevents the chain reactions that end of in stopped traffic. Even though it’s counter intuitive to take a couple of seconds to slow down when you’re in a hurry to get someplace, it often gets you there sooner by opening up a pocket whereby you can break free from the cohort.
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Well put.
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Thank you. I have noticed this phenomenon more times than one. In the late 70s early 80s in Manteca California cal trans built a bypass that took the usual one lane each direction highway that connected Yosemite National Park with San Francisco on a stretch of road called Highway 120. It extended the commute possibilities so that people with jobs in the Bay Area that could not afford to buy a home with affordable housing only an hour away.
But…
When I first moved there pre-bypass days, the traffic used to go through the center of town and would deadlock it sometimes for hours. But hardly anyone cared because people would just get out of their cars and party right on the street in Manteca. The average rent at that time for a one bedroom apartment in Manteca was around $175-200. By 1985, with the bypass completed, commuters began moving and the rents had gone up to around $450. But the population grew so rapidly the infrastructure could not handle it and the city had to put a moratorium on growth. The stopped all residential construction and limited commercial construction. The population had grown from 13,000 in 1979 to 60,000 in 1985! But after it was complete it only took around 3 1/2 hours to get from the Bay Area to Yosemite, compared to all day before the bypass.
Lesson learned: if you build it they will come. In hoards. And not all road improvements add quality of life to those who use the roads. And finally road improvements ruin all the great impromptu street parties.
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But what if a municipality really improves a road in one area in order to draw the traffic there and ease the congestion in the other area?
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Life is a cycle; reincarnation and causality cycle understanding will make the world better. When will the world understand.
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