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2006 04 30
Traffic Without Control
This video from India illustrates how traffic systems can be self-organizing and efficient even if the results look like an experiment in chaos theory. I doubt if Toronto's modern traffic control system could manage the throughput that this "control-less" T intersection achieves:
Hi Kevin, I’m not advocating we throw out the traffic signals at, say York and Front streets but if we did the road system would not necessarily collapse. Humans have a way of circumventing control systems when they cease to add value. When the lights went out a few summers back cars still managed to get around Toronto.
The Powers That Be in the UK have done studies at key intersections in cities where accidents have been common. They went with a hunch, and instead of adding more regulating systems and signage, they removed all of it. Results showed that when traffic regulating systems are removed the number of accidents decrease. The theory is that if you have to use your brain when you get to an intersection (esp. like like that one in India) you will be less likely to just cruise through a red light and schmuck someone.
The other interesting thing about the video is that it is a great demonstration of one of the central ideas of chaos theory: random events tend to cluster.
