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Week 8 [14-20.12.20] The Simple Solution to Traffic

 Everybody hates traffic jams. Watch the video and get an idea why do they happen and what should You do when u get in one of them.



Questions: 
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?
2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?
3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

Comments

1. Yes, it was my friend who once told me that traffic jams on the highways happen just because somebody had to slow down too much. Also during my driving license course, I learned that keeping distance between the cars is useful. This is what they called eco-driving which many of the people did not notice - eco does not mean only driving to reduce the consumption of fuel. It is the effect of what we do on the roads. If we keep a good distance, we can only slow down instead of stopping, so we don't create a traffic jam and waste less fuel: win-win.

2. No, I don't believe something like that can happen. My first argument would be even more trivial, than believing that autonomous cars will replace normal cars because people are lazy. So why there are still more regular cars than taxis? In the era of Uber, it is not a big difference to pay for leasing or to pay for a taxi. People like to drive. Of course, I don't say that people prefer own cars just because they like to drive, but I wan't to note some people do so.

3. I think that we can expand the distance mentioned only partially in the video. Big distance allows people to change their lanes without making the cars slow down. Also, letting people change their lane if they put the turning light is a good idea - if the person changes the lane quickly, he won't have to slow down, so his lane won't have to slow down and the lane he is going to change to won't have to slow down, because his speed was lower. Another win-win. Yet another thing is driving as far as the lane allows you - we do zip merging, so people on the other lane will let you in. But don't slow down and wait till somebody does it even before your lane finished - do it at the ending, when people from the other lane expect you to do it. Last thing: drive on the most right lane possible. This will be personal, but I often use the right lane instead of lane, as it is faster, because people drive - whoever knows why - on the center lane, when there are 3 lanes. I am talking here about the highways, not cities. This is crazy, that people don't see the fact that they block people from behind. People then can't use the center lane to overtake people from right, but they have to use the left lane - that makes three lanes completely useless, because in practice, we have two, when only the left one is faster, or absurds like one I mentioned before (most right lane being faster than others, because nobody uses it) happen.
1. Why there are traffic jams depends on many factors. Motorway traffic jams - accident or someone is driving slowly and is occupying the lane. In the city? Most likely too many cars and rush hour. Our European cities are not adapted to heavy traffic, hence traffic jams in larger cities are often visible.

2. I believe that in the future, we should not prohibit people from driving as a replacement for autonomous vehicles. For many reasons: First, it will be decades before autonomous vehicles hit the roads. So far, autonomous vehicles are not very safe.

3. I once wrote an article about how Elon Musk came up with a clever way to unload traffic jams - underground tunnels. The first prototypes are already in Los Angeles and they are working quite well.
Marcin Sekrecki said…
@Igor Goryszewski
I've read some article about Elon Musk's clever idea. That works incredibly good but I think we will still have to wait a lot of time before we will be able to see such a thing in Poland.
Marcin Sekrecki said…
@Marcin Węgłowski
I don't think that autonomous cars are all about laziness of people. If u imagine all cars on the streets being self-driving they would be able to communicate with each other with incredible speed and there would be much less traffic. People don't have such short reaction time as machines.
Piotr Góralski said…
1. The traffic jam are caused by the slow reaction times of the people and the hard braking that everyone behind also has to slow down.
2. Driving a car is not only about getting from point a to point b, but also having fun and, for some, even passion. Autonomous cars should be created so that they can be used by people who do not know how to drive a car or do not want to do it, but should not replace standard cars. Increasing the number of autonomous cars would improve the situation with traffic jams, perhaps to such that the problem would be marginal.
3. I have never thought of solving the traffic jam problem but I think adding a countdown of seconds to change the color of the traffic light could be useful. Drivers would be prepared to move and their reaction time would improve.
FilipJatelnicki said…
Did You know why are there traffic jams?
The video was interesting and I've been already acknowledged that the solution to the traffic problem is associated with better coordination.
I didn't know that widening the space between the cars might have such a big impact.


Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?
I would assume that would be a case in the future. Although, I would rather see better public transport rather than the increasing number of solo drivers of 5-places cars, even in electric self-driving cars.

Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?
The thing that services like Google maps are doing, which is informing other drivers about traffic or even redirecting them in order to reduce congestion.

Better public transport for me is the best solution I could imagine.
Michał Gawron said…
1. Yes, of course I know why there are traffic jams. It all depends on the drivers and their driving. It often looks like people are driving at their own pace and all the traffic is asynchronous. In cities, most traffic jams are due to traffic lights, many cars on the road at rush hour and accidents. On highways, it is often left-lane driving slower than required.

2.I think that someday in the future there may be a technology that would meet the needs of a large number of people at once. Rather, it is not the near future, but maybe someday who knows? At the moment, the car is the main means of transport and we have to learn how to minimize the chances of traffic jams.

3.I think that the means of mass transport can only solve the problem of traffic jams. At the moment, I do not see any other solution.
Viktor Ryś said…
1.
Yes, I did, I think it's common knowledge.

2.
No, I think that driving is still pleasurable, so for ordinary, boring commuting self-driving car is a good option, but for roadtripping or racing normal cars should be available.

3.
I cannot think of any other solutions to this problem. Maybe roundabouts, because they tend to unload the traffic effectively.
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?
Yes, I have watched this video earlier, but I was thinking about it myself too when I’ve started driving.
2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?
What a terrible thought. I hope it won’t happen. Driving is not only getting from A to B it can be a lot more. It is some people main hobby to cruise around in car. I think myself that It’s also very relaxing. I don’t see any reason why it should be banned. Also self driving techonology isn’t affordable for everybody so there would be a lot of logistics problems.
3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?
I am no expert in logistics. I can’t think of any smart solution.
Artur Król said…
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?
Yes I do, i think I've seen this video earlier and i totally agree with the statements that are said. There is no way every single driver waiting in traffic could start moving at the same time. The impossibility of synchroinize is the thing that causes the traffics. Well... not to mention the amount of people that want to get to the same city, same street.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?
I think changing people mentally would be the main issue here. Most of them won't trust the self-driving car, they want to be in control of the machine. And in my opinion people shoudn't be banned from driving. There is too many situations where human value and decision making could be better than the programmed algorythims. Although statistically speaking banning people from driving would be the best choice.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?
There is no real solutions besides mentioned in a video. We must be aware the people must travel, must get to work. So either we think about teleportation, either we have to stick with what we have
Week 8 [14-20.12.20] The Simple Solution to Traffic
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

There are several reasons why traffic jams are formed:
- too many cars,
- poorly designed streets and expressways,
- the width of older roads is not adapted to the width of new cars,
- poor skills of drivers who cause accidents,
- no roads allowing the avoidance of large cities (city ring roads).

2. Do You think that in the future people should be
banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

No, I believe that autonomous cars should only run on highways. Autonomous cars should be able to travel long distances. On the other hand, driving a car in the city requires precision, experience, some anticipation of where you might miss, etc. It seems to me that computers are not yet advanced enough to perform such operations.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

Old cars and cars that do not meet the exhaust emission standards should be banned from entering cities. Many cars, especially in Poland, are old cars; legal regulations could exclude them from cities. This would prevent urban traffic jams from forming.


Illia Kalinin said…
1. I didn't know about the ones from the video.

2.There always should be a manual steering wheel in a vehicle. I believe self-driving mode will be mostly used in the self-driving cars. but in a rare emergency situations there should be a way for human to control the vehicle manually.

3. Besides of the awesome solution with self-driving cars. a good solution for nowadays is to decrease the amount of cars on the roads by making more people use public transport. Also, electric self-driving vehicles will significantly decrease a travel cost. so I believe. many people will choose taxi instead of paying all those taxes and bills for own vehicle.
s16427 said…
1. I generally knew why there were traffic jams, but this video widened a little my understanding of the topic. On side note, it's hard to have cold, academic approach to topic that is so irritating in everyday life.

2. It's tough question. I think that at some point, self-driving cars should take over at least most of the traffic. But that's distant future. As we can see now, autopilots have lots of erros and bugs to be fixed. Beside problems with regular driving, what will happen in the event, not forseen by archtects? Let's say, there's a sinkhole in the road. Will the car drive right into it? Or will it stop and wont't move until there's an update? So in summary: someday self-driving cars should take over, although I wouldn't ban people from driving.

3. There are lots of ways to prevent traffic jams. My favourite one is carpooling. It's easy, ecological and pretty fun way to get from point A to point B, while avoiding traffic jams. Another one is simply taking advantage of public transport, although not always it'll fit one's needs. I believe there are also ways to avoid traffic jams, without changing your life so dramatically. For example, higher tickets for using phones while driving. It'll make people more focused on driving, so there will be smaller delays ergo smaller traffic jams.
Roman Dubovyi said…
1. Yes, because of inconsistency and human error. Someone want's to change the line and here we go. On highways in LA for example, while having for about 5 lines in one direction, there are still a lot of jams in peek hours. And they don't go away fast, because everyone wants to get into, as it seems for them, faster line. And ironically because everyone tries to get into the fastest line at the given moment every line ends up to be slow.

2. No I don't think that would be possible. Driving is one of the most fun parts of life, no-one is going to be banning it :).

3. The better the logistics of the road - the less jams you get. For example in European countries there are a lot of jams because roads were build around the cities, not otherwise. While in US for example car was popular before the cities grew big. And that's why they have this square infrastructure, so it's easier to drive around.
In my opinion, highway traffic jams caused by sudden braking, are not as common and important as those caused by traffic lights.
Moreover, awful driving laws are huge contributors to this problem.
Take for instance Warsaw and their proclaimed war with drivers.
They are introducing even more special lanes and treatments for specific groups, creating an even greater legal quagmire.

In man's history, we never had an occurrence where prohibition solved anything fundamentally :)
Driving is not only a routine task, it can also be a joy. Should we take away freedom in the name of security?
Not mentioning cases where a computer would fail, like unknown/unmarked destination or necessity for extreme ad-hoc maneuvers.

So, what can we do about this problem?
Significant reduction of driving laws should not only make us go faster.
Security will also increase! One will finally start thinking for himself, instead of blindly believing that the codex will save him :)
1. When I was doing the driving course, the lecturer showed us exactly the same video. We had a three-hour lecture on this subject, along with recommendations on what to do in order not to aggravate the problem. Since then, my knowledge of traffic jams has grown a lot, mainly thanks to many advanced traffic simulators.

2. Not only do I think so, but it is scientifically proven it will be happening. The potential damage to the driver and passengers in the event of an error is too great and the number of road deaths per year is still a huge problem.
Imagine that every driver, while driving a car, could make decisions in less than milliseconds, he would observe the surroundings of the car and the traffic situation continuously, even without blinking, 360 degrees, always. He would know the exact road map of the world and all the signs. Additionally, it would have a continuous telepathic link, with traffic lights and all the other drivers in the area. After the algorithm that would control all of this will be properly adjusted, the chance of an error is exactly 0%. Eliminating the human factor is the best that can happen to public transport.

3. Ohh boy... Driver reaction time would change the world. This isn't the only cause of the problem, but it's the biggest problem by far drivers have. If we want not only not to cause the problem, but also to solve it, we should think about maintaining a constant slow speed, even when the driver in front of us starts and stops all the time.
Roman Burlaka said…
1. As it was mentioned, almost everything such problems are because of people's behaviour. If you ever have been studying for a driver license and doing it properly - you should have been annoyed with a lot of people who drive against rules and/or recommendation. Cause that stuff with keeping distance isn't a secret revealed by this video - it's a common idea.
2. Will be fewer accidents, I swear. It's so obvious. Even better, if those cars would not only use image recognition but also just share data about its position with other cars around.
3. Traffic jams can be the result of bad city roads project, not only drivers. So... you should hire professionals for such tasks, even ones to examine the result of the work of others.
1. Yes. Moreover, I get frustrated at other drivers for taking forever to move at the lights... Also when they leave a place for a phantom car in front of them I think of those poor souls that won't make it on the turn light and will have to wait for another.

2. It would be a dream! No more traffic jams, almost no accidents, less frustration on the road. It'd be marvellous. It would however take the fun out of driving, I kinda like to change gears and try to stay in the middle.

3. I'd suggest an eye exam for elderly... my grandpa was driving his car until he said he can no longer see a light colour. He really shouldn't be driving when he had slight problems with vision and not let to come to this. He was super stressed so he also drove very slowly. I'm not sure why he even drive, maybe he didn't want to burden others... anyway, in Poland the driving licence didn't have an expiry date, maybe this would help a little. Although we are still monkies, and one doesn't have to be blind to drive like one.
Leya Chechyk said…
1. As city’s design could be not adapted to its true needs regarding the amount of cars. I think it becomes a real huge problem when winter comes, as people would rather prefer drive even small distances than to walk freezing.

2. Self-driving cars also have an option to drive it by human, so I guess it will never be banned. I believe choice is an important moment here, which should always be provided when it comes to automatization.

3. Popularising bikes? I think it’s working now. I guess this problem should be solved simultaneously in different fields and with different means. Cooperation of experts should work here.
Polina Rybachuk said…
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

Traffic jams arise when it’s too many cars in the city. It’s happened when there is no other comfortable transport. The perfect street should have besides the road also bus and tram lines, cycle paths and comfortable sidewalk. If the car is the only way to get comfortable to work, shopping, people will buy more cars. For me, public transport is the perfect way to get around the city. It’s cheap, comfortable, also during my travel, I can read the book or sketch. It’s awful when public transport lines and cycle paths are removed during the fight against traffic jams.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

I think it’s a great way to fight against car accidents. Also, that doesn't allow breaking the traffic rules.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

I think the best way to prevent traffic jams is discouraging people from buying cars. Public transport should be cheaper and more comfortable than a car. Of course, sometimes we need some car, for example, if we have heavy luggage. But you can just use car sharing or taxi.
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

I was aware of it but I didn't know all of the reasons that was presented in the video.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

Yeah, I think people should be limited in some way from controlling a car. For example we can allow people to drive in some empty fields so they can have fun from driving, but ban people from driving in living areas and cities where they can make an accident (like today). We should try to move from driving cars and change to public transportation as well.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

The easiest one is to change to public transportation :) If more people would use public transportation and less cars we could have beautiful empty streets where buses and trams are (almost) always on time and we would have clean air to breathe. We would have less accidents as well because more cars on the streets are more people mistakes.
Jakub Łukowski said…
Yes I have read some article with good visual simulation about formation of traffic, though I do not remember where I have read it. The video explains it in good manner and I’ve enjoyed watching it.

I believe that banning people from driving vehicles would benefit humanity, it would make transport faster and more efficient with less traffic jams. It would also help eliminate driving accidents.

I do not think that traffic jams can be fully prevented, that would require creating perfect system consisting of good infrastructure combined with usage of different means of transportation. Good start would be making transport vertical, like in Elon Musk’s idea for building stack of tunnels under the cities, but also using some form of flying cars that couple of startups are testing right now, though that would create high noise pollution.
Marek Parr said…
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

Yes I've seen this video already some time ago.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

Yeah, I think that's something obvious. That would not only prevent traffic jams, but also increase safety, which is one of the most important problems when it comes to driving.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

I think that the most important thing is to improve public transport. The more people would use it instead of driving their own car, the less traffic jams would occur.
Karol Gałązka said…
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

Certainly, traffic jams are created by car accidents. We can learn from the movie that not only that, it causes long traffic jams. The most common traffic jams are made by us people. Our reaction may be delayed from, for example, starting at lights, which causes lance reactions and creates plugs. People also stop and watch what happened, which also causes interruptions in the flow of traffic.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

Self-driving cars with mutual co-ordination seem to be a very road-improving way. However, whenever I hear about automating certain things, I feel anxious. I have heard a lot about new technologies used, among others in electric cars that have caused accidents that start fires and trap people inside. However, if there was a safe technology that supports self-driving cars, maybe the number of accidents would decrease and people would have more time without wasting it driving a car.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

Recently, a major problem contributing to accidents or the formation of traffic jams is the use of a phone or tablet by drivers. Most often, drivers reach for the phone while standing in a traffic jam to take their time somehow. Unfortunately, as depicted in the movie, using phones or even watching a movie on the phone leads to a delayed reaction when the cars start to move. I believe that this is a very serious problem. There are traffic jams, but there is also a high risk of an accident. Therefore, the solution is to stop using electronic devices while driving. Apparently, one of the companies is already testing cars with embedded tablets showing us advertising and promotions at stations nearby. I think this is a big problem for road safety.
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

Yes I know. By bad driving of people, as shown in the film. Some people have too little concentration, others move too slowly, and still others stick to the bumper. It wouldn't be a problem if everyone were riding with their heads. And without thinking about something else or worse, they use phones.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

I think not everyone should drive a car. Just like not everyone is fit to be a doctor. If it were 100% safe then why not. Although some people love to drive cars and it relaxes them. So a driving ban is a bad idea.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

To prevent traffic jams or reduce them. We should have more roundabouts and less lights. You should definitely focus more on driving and think about the road not only for yourself.
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

Yes, I knew why there are traffic jams. A few years ago I watched a Galileo program, where there was a topic of traffic jams. They presented an example with a roundabout. Moreover, I have had my driving license for 5 years. I have seen traffic jams build up many times. It's so annoying when an accident is on the other side of the street and people driving in the opposite direction slow down to see what happened, it creates a traffic jam everywhere.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

I think that it is a quite difficult question for now. I am really sorry for this example, but what would a self-driving car do if it had a choice to hit a girl or turn and run into a tree? In my opinion, robots don't have a human mind and I don't know how that will work.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

I am not sure if it is the solution, but I always try to reduce speed by shifting gears instead of pressing the brake pedal. I don't use any mobile devices.
Jakub Parteka said…
1. Did You know why are there traffic jams?

To be honest, yes, I was aware of the reasons that were presented in the video. I think those reasons are pretty obvious if you think about it. I always try to keep proper distance from other cars (if possible) because beside avoiding traffic it is also more economic. Braking violently and accelerating uses more fuel than driving with constant speed.

2. Do You think that in the future people should be banned from driving and only self-driving cars should be on the streets?

I think it depends on how effective self-driving cars would be. If driverless cars accident rate would be close to 0 with the same or higher speed than car driven by human, then I do not see a reason why people would like to drive cars (maybe except it being fun). I think that in future we could create driverless cities with much better traffic than today, for it to be possible we would have to ban people from driving.

3. Do You know any other solutions to prevent traffic jams?

Another idea worth considering are synchronized traffic lights across whole cities but I am not sure if it is even possible.
I think traffic jams are because of many reasons. First, there are a lot of cars nowadays on the roads, and not all cities are prepared for those numbers. Traffic lights are not coordinated at all times, which means that if any road is busy and lights are too short then the capacity is low, which leads to big traffic. The second reason is the human problem. As in the video, a lot of drivers are not focused, paying less attention than needed, and sometimes moving slowly. For example, when someone "falls asleep" on the red lights, it means that much fewer cars could pass on green ones. Then, everyone needs to wait for the next green lights. That also leads to big traffic, especially in the cities.
In my opinion, self-driving cars are the future, but we shouldn't be banned from driving. A lot of people are excellent drivers and maybe even better than computers because of thinking. Not every scenario is scripted.
I think that we can't really prevent traffic jams, because of the number of cars, but building highways will help a lot. When most traffic will move to highways, cities will be less crowded and then will be less traffics.

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