WHY DO TRAFFIC JAMS FORM SOMETIMES EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO ACCIDENT?
If you have ever driven down I-285, GA 400, or any of our Atlanta freeways, you have probably been in one of those “phantom” traffic jams that seem to have no obvious cause.
Traffic slows almost to a standstill, and you crawl along in heavy traffic for a few minutes before suddenly increasing speed, although there seems to be no accident, lane closure, or road work that explains the slow down.
These sudden stops and traffic congestion could even be dangerous and cause a real car accident.
Several research groups have actually employed real-world experiments and mathematical equations in an effort to solve this annoying and frustrating problem of traffic congestion.
The good news for drivers who are crawling along in stop-and-go traffic for no apparent reason is that they may have come up with a reason as well as a solution to traffic congestion.
On a busy and crowded highway, a chain reaction causing you to come to a halt in severe congestion can happen with any slight hiccup in the flow of traffic.
You have probably experienced this yourself – you brake suddenly if the car in front of you brakes, and of course, the driver behind you is hopefully hitting the brakes, too.
Benjamin Seibold is a mathematician at Temple University, and he and his colleagues have been researching these traffic jams with no obvious cause.
Seibold explains that a driver hitting the brakes after being inattentive for a moment or slowing down for a small bump in the road can cause this domino effect.
Seibold goes on to explain that this wave of drivers all hitting their brakes for no good reason can go back into the line of traffic for up to 1000 meters, which can cause these phantom traffic jams.
After a few seconds, drivers realize that there is no real need to slow down, and everybody gradually picks up their speed, and a normal flow of traffic can resume.
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Why Phantom Traffic Jams Form
The disruptions in traffic flow are often caused by individual drivers who hit the brakes for the reasons described above.
This causes the car behind to slow down, and then the vehicle behind that, causing the frustrating slow-moving traffic, which seems to have no cause.
When drivers are driving faster than they need to or above the speed limit, the phenomenon is more likely to occur.
Seibold goes on to point out that drivers can prevent these traffic jams and have a smoother traffic flow by anticipating dense traffic up ahead of them, leaving more room between them and the car in front, and slowing down in plenty of time.
MIT computer expert Berthold Horn has also studied these phantom traffic jams and slowdowns.
Horn suggests that drivers can help to avoid the need for sudden braking by trying to stay as close to halfway between the car in front and the car behind.
So, Who’s to Blame for These Traffic Jams?
Unfortunately, it seems as if these phantom traffic jams will always be a part of everyday life and will always be there if the traffic wave on a busy road is at a particular traffic level.
However, if enough drivers change the way they drive and stop with last-minute braking, it can reduce the likelihood of heavy traffic density.
Seibold also suggests that, in most cases, it isn’t really the fault of an individual driver.
He goes on to point out that the slow traffic situation can still be created even if every driver in a certain lane of traffic changes their behavior and nobody brakes too quickly.
Basically, if there is high traffic demand on a certain road, these phantom traffic jams are going to occur, regardless, simply because of the way drivers behave and react.
It has been suggested that having a robot driver driving at a consistent speed is the only real way of eliminating this traffic incident delay.
However, there are some solutions.
Although most roads are designed to be as straight as possible, designing a road to be as smooth and as straight as it can be will reduce the chance of this type of traffic jam.
Some roads in the US already have variable speed limits, mostly to accommodate weather extremes, such as slippery road surfaces, and this is also seen as an effective way of keeping the traffic moving.
By using LED signs along a stretch of highway to vary the speed limit, the the chronic traffic congestion can be more effectively broken up if drivers slow down gradually over a longer stretch of road rather than all slowing down at the same time.
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