Formula jam
Posted by Cptn
There are times when even the most ardent citizens of the PRSD take to the motorway, in a suped up soon-to-be water-fueled (of which more later) wagon. And in a way, it’s refreshing to know that there is a mathematical formula to the otherwise inexplicable snarl ups that seem to be caused by nothing.
A team of mathematicians from the universities of Exeter, Bristol and Budapest have created a mathematical model of congestion. It shows that slowing down below a critical speed when reacting to an unexpected event had a knock on effect that would have cars at a standstill a few miles back.
Dr Gábor Orosz of the University of Exeter, told the PRSD: “When you tap your brake, the traffic may come to a full stand-still several miles behind you. It really matters how hard you brake – a slight braking from a driver who has identified a problem early will allow the traffic flow to remain smooth. Heavier braking, usually caused by a driver reacting late to a problem, can affect traffic flow for many miles.â€
The effect is called a ‘backward travelling wave’, of course.
We’ve come up with our own formula: desire/need to travel + poor public transport = congestion to the power of pollutants over frustration. We’ll publish it in our ’stay at home’ papers, the sequel to our earlier and younger ‘dirty stop out’ theory.
If you liked this story, you could buy us a coffee --------------------------------------------------------------------December 19th, 2007
