Traffic all-go-rhythm
I do the drive back and forth from Orange County, Calif., to Las Vegas far too often. Both my wife and I have family there, the annual SEMA show is there, and for some reason, car and tire manufacturers seem to love taking journalists to the most distracting place on Earth. For me, the drive there usually starts around 6 a.m. It generally takes about three and a half hours with little to no traffic. This often includes a quick stop in Lenwood or Baker for refreshments and gawking at the world's tallest thermometer. I have intentionally left out any mention of distance so as to not incriminate myself for any speeds I may or may not average during the trip.
Most recently I managed to spend nearly six hours on the drive. I was returning on Sunday morning of a holiday weekend and heavy traffic turned what is normally a high-speed cruise into a series of brake tests interspersed with grueling cooling system torture.
As I sat in traffic I began to wonder if it was possible to create a traffic algorithm to model the situation I was in. If someone saw this coming and didn't do anything about it, he deserves to be strung up over the road while every motorist creeping by gets to take a swing at him like a swap-meet piata. Sure, I know traffic will be worse than usual on a holiday weekend, but should it really be this bad?
Back to the algorithm; if you're unfamiliar with them, algorithms are essentially a series of calculations designed to be performed in a specific order to try and predict an outcome. An algorithm can be set up as a decision matrix-if the answer to Question 1 is greater than three, then continue to Question 2, if not go to Question 8, and so on. It can also be purely mathematical, a series of differential equations with linked variables that will predict a mathematical outcome. Obviously the mathematical outcome is the most telling, as it is a concise answer. The problem with getting concise answers is that they generally require precise data. The problem with trying to model traffic flow is that nothing is precise. You just can't account for every jackass in an SUV who's convinced he's the most important person on the road and can pass on the right, cut people off and basically do whatever he wants.
Yes, I have singled out people in their SUVs. Why? Because I do this drive all the time, and I can say with a high degree of certainty that exactly 93 percent of all traffic jackassism is committed by SUV drivers. It's science-live with it. So what do we do with these outliers in an algorithm? We don't include them; we can't accurately account for random behavior. That's why I'm sitting in traffic on open highway.