The Spring Paradox

So it turns out Up and Atom made a video about this a while ago! I've just watched it and it's really good! The whole channel is fantastic actually. Here's her video: https://youtu.be/cALezV_Fwi0. Sorry for copying your idea, Jade! You can also discuss this video on REDDIT: stvmld.com/ph999g87

"You're NOT stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic!"

A "Hectocar" is my favourite unit of measure.

This is the opposite of click bait. Dragged me in with something simple yet cool, showed me that and then provided something even more complex and cool. Well done!

I've definitely done this while playing Cities:Skylines. Sometimes the best way to solve a traffic jam isn't by adding, but subtracting.

"or you could consider that I'm making a video about it so it's probably the counterintuitive answer" This is why I love this channel

"What'll happen if I cut the blue hope?" Obviously explode. It's never the blue wire Steve, stay safe

Came for physics, stayed for game theory

I, commonly, choose a slightly longer route to avoid traffic. I see quite a few people doing the same on my rush hour commutes. We don't like sitting in heavy traffic. It's just too stressful

Lesson learned: tiny taxi drivers cause the spring to go up when the blue rope is cut. You learn something new every day!

I heard from a Google developer at one point that Google maps already is acting as a hive mind in this sense, recommending routes based on what will improve the time for everyone.

There's a related effect called the Downs Thompson paradox. To the effect that the equilibrium speed of road traffic is determined by the average door to door time of the equivalent journey taken by public transport. In other words, if you have a city with a public transport network, speeding up public transport also speeds up the road network. So if you've got a city with congested roads, your best solution might be to speed up the trains, rather than simply widen those roads. (Yes, I'm thinking of you, Sydney).

I deal with this exact traffic paradox daily and can say in practice it literally does play out like this

I would definitely take a longer route if it’s less congested, even if it takes a couple more minutes. It would just “feel” faster & less stressful that being single-file

A hectocar sounds like a really uninspired late generation Pokemon name 😅 Great video, as I highway engineer I am ashamed to say I was completely unaware of this law!

We do have a similar situation in my town. Instead of going through town which is less miles to drive, I take a longer, less traveled outer road north of town and get to work faster than those driving through town. But I know it's not going to last forever. Years ago there was another route south of town that a few people used to do the same thing to avoid traffic, but as more and more people found out about it, it eventually became as slow as driving through town. It's only a matter of time before the northern route also becomes a traffic hazard. I know people that still drive on the southside of town but take an outer road that is further south than the previous southern route, and they say that's quicker because it avoids much of the city traffic. And that's about it - our outer roads are just becoming bigger and bigger circles around town.

It's an interesting concept in relation to city planning - maybe constructing short, fast routes, but reserving them for emergency vehicles only could improve travel times where it matters most.

If you're trying to look it up, "Bray's" paradox is actually spelled "Braess's" paradox.

"I'm making a video about it, so it's probably the counterintuitive answer." Crap, he's onto me. No one tell my high school teachers (and some college professors).

Excellent demonstration, explanation, and extension to other domains. Triple word score!