Traffic Wave

Traffic Wave

Traffic waves, also called stop waves or traffic shocks, are travelling disturbances in the distribution of cars on a highway. Traffic waves usually travel backwards in relation to the motion of the cars themselves, or "upstream". The waves can also travel downstream, however, more commonly become "pinned" to a single spot on the road, as a soliton. Traffic waves are a type of traffic jam. A deeper understanding of traffic waves is a goal of the physical study of traffic flow, in which traffic itself can often be seen using techniques similar to those used in fluid dynamics.

Read more about Traffic Wave:  Mitigation

Famous quotes containing the words traffic and/or wave:

    There was a girl who was running the traffic desk, and there was a woman who was on the overnight for radio as a producer, and my desk assistant was a woman. So when the world came to an end, we took over.
    Marya McLaughlin, U.S. television newswoman. As quoted in Women in Television News, ch. 3, by Judith S. Gelfman (1976)

    I hear
    the tide turning. Last
    eager wave over-
    taken and pulled back
    by first wave of the ebb.
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)