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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
It's always interesting to read a nonfiction book years after it was published and make note of what companies still exist or what technology has changed. Waze was but a glimmer in the internet's eye when this was published.
This was a fun read. Traffic is interesting because it's something most of us experience frequently, and it's possibly the most visible complex system most of us deal with. In this book, Vanderbilt explores the challenges of traffic. Traffic suffers from the dual challenges of individual psychology and dueling external constraints.
On the psychology side, people are prone to making traffic decisions that seem personally optimal, but these often lead to sub par performance. For example, in heavy traffic, drivers will often speed up when they see gaps in front of them and then slow down when they approach the end of those gaps. The acceleration and deceleration cause ripple affects behind them, leading to more variation in traffic flow. Everyone would be better off if they stayed at a steady pace -- even if "that jerk" then takes the space you didn't -- but that doesn't feel like the best choice.
An example of external constraints are that traffic varies throughout the day. A road system that was built to smoothly handle peak traffic would be ridiculously over provisioned for the bulk of the time when traffic isn't at peak.
Most interesting are the examples of how individual psychology interacts with the external constraints. A 5 lane road with wide shoulders and sidewalks with no obstructions may seem safer -- cars are less likely to hit obstructions and pedestrians are further from cars -- but when compared with similarly placed smaller roads, there are often less car/pedestrian accidents. On the first road, pedestrians are an aberration. Cars are driving, essentially, as if they are on a highway, so if a pedestrian is present, they are less likely to be noticed. The smaller road, on the other hand, doesn't feel like a place one should drive fast. The greater need for attention and the slower speeds decrease both the number of car/pedestrian accidents and their severity.
The book is full of interesting thought experiments like these. If anything, the main weakness of the book is that it is essentially a collection of tales of the traffic system and leaves me wanting to read some actual books on traffic engineering and psychology. :-)
On the psychology side, people are prone to making traffic decisions that seem personally optimal, but these often lead to sub par performance. For example, in heavy traffic, drivers will often speed up when they see gaps in front of them and then slow down when they approach the end of those gaps. The acceleration and deceleration cause ripple affects behind them, leading to more variation in traffic flow. Everyone would be better off if they stayed at a steady pace -- even if "that jerk" then takes the space you didn't -- but that doesn't feel like the best choice.
An example of external constraints are that traffic varies throughout the day. A road system that was built to smoothly handle peak traffic would be ridiculously over provisioned for the bulk of the time when traffic isn't at peak.
Most interesting are the examples of how individual psychology interacts with the external constraints. A 5 lane road with wide shoulders and sidewalks with no obstructions may seem safer -- cars are less likely to hit obstructions and pedestrians are further from cars -- but when compared with similarly placed smaller roads, there are often less car/pedestrian accidents. On the first road, pedestrians are an aberration. Cars are driving, essentially, as if they are on a highway, so if a pedestrian is present, they are less likely to be noticed. The smaller road, on the other hand, doesn't feel like a place one should drive fast. The greater need for attention and the slower speeds decrease both the number of car/pedestrian accidents and their severity.
The book is full of interesting thought experiments like these. If anything, the main weakness of the book is that it is essentially a collection of tales of the traffic system and leaves me wanting to read some actual books on traffic engineering and psychology. :-)
This book was okay. Enjoyed it while reading, but didn't feel a strong drive to pick it up each time. I learned some interesting things about the psychology of traffic. Some of the physics I had already read about in this article:
http://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/traffic-jams.html
http://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/traffic-jams.html
I learned some very interesting things I never knew about the patterns & economics of traffic patterns
There was a lot of fascinating and enlightening information and research in here. There was also some less interesting information densely packed in. Some parts were easy to put down and hard to pick up, while other parts had me totally engaged and wanting more. Overall this is a great book on driver psychology, traffic, road infrastructure, and human behavior.
Weighted too heavily on the exhaustive research and too lightly on the readable presentation. Parts were truly interesting, but it seemed the author had difficulty tearing himself from one topic to move to another. I also found the many, many instances of "I'll explain that idea in the next chapter" to be way annoying.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I am really interested in driving and improving driving skills, so this book was right up my street (no pun intended 😂). The book picked up on something I realised ages ago - there is no point getting annoyed about traffic because if you drive, you are the traffic.
This book really dissects the psychology of driving more than anything, as well as a look at the infrastructure of managing high volumes of traffic and traffic in other countries.
I often find when I drive in other countries that their drivers are "aggressive" - this book taught me that this is all cultural and that has helped me a lot in my recent European trip.
I also learned how my "trick" for emerging at busy junctions (force eye contact with every passing driver) works - it is simple psychology that making eye contact reminds the other driver that you are human and so they are more likely to let you emerge.
I think everyone who reads this will learn something from it, so that is worth it.
For me, I found the writing style just a little dry in places.
This book really dissects the psychology of driving more than anything, as well as a look at the infrastructure of managing high volumes of traffic and traffic in other countries.
I often find when I drive in other countries that their drivers are "aggressive" - this book taught me that this is all cultural and that has helped me a lot in my recent European trip.
I also learned how my "trick" for emerging at busy junctions (force eye contact with every passing driver) works - it is simple psychology that making eye contact reminds the other driver that you are human and so they are more likely to let you emerge.
I think everyone who reads this will learn something from it, so that is worth it.
For me, I found the writing style just a little dry in places.
This book further solidifies that car-dependency is horrible and is no way to live life. Even though that’s not the premise of the book. Cars are useful modes of transportation, but keep them away from people, slow tf down (proper road design is a the best way to do this), and give us options to not having to drive everywhere!
Also, we drivers are dumb. We are no where near as good at driving as we think. CRAZY.
Also, we drivers are dumb. We are no where near as good at driving as we think. CRAZY.
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
Exceptionally informative, but missing an overarching narrative to which I returned after each chapter.
Read much like a season of a podcast.
Read much like a season of a podcast.