The Hidden Cause of Traffic Jams—and How to Solve Them

Some traffic jams seem to happen out of nowhere—it’s not rush hour, no construction, no accidents. These are called phantom traffic jams, generally caused by drivers tapping the brakes on and off. Could autonomous vehicles eliminate these traffic jams, and make our roads safer? Some researchers think so.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Digital Producers: Ana Aceves, Emily Zendt
Editing: Ana Aceves
Production Assistance: Shyla Duff, Christina Monnen

MEDIA CREDITS:
Archival: William Barbour, Storyblocks, Nagoya University, Vanderbilt University
Music: APM
SFX: luffy / FreeSound

Footage of the experiment with cars driving in a circle to dissipate phantom traffic jams from a work supported by the National Science Foundation project “Control of Vehicular Traffic Flow via Low Density Autonomous Vehicles” under awards CNS-1446435, 1446690, 1446702, 1446715, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) award number CID DE-EE0008872. Video footage by John de Dios and Alan Davis.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

© WGBH Educational Foundation 2022