What Causes Traffic Jams?
塞车的科学
You've just made your way out of a really frustrating traffic jam, and you're looking around for the reason, maybe an accident or roadworks, but you can't see anything. So, what in the world just happened?
你才刚脱离一阵着实恼人的车潮，而你正四处查看塞车的原因，也许是车祸或是道路施工，但你却看不到任何线索。那么，刚才究竟发生啥事了？
Mathematicians use different models to explain these so-called phantom traffic jams. One popular model likens traffic to a flowing liquid and traffic jams to a shockwave.
数学家们使用不同模型来解释这些所谓的“幽灵塞车”。一种最普遍的模型将车潮譬喻成流动的液体，而塞车譬喻成震荡波。
To investigate this, Japanese researchers put 22 cars on a circular track, and ask them to drive around at a steady 30 kilometers per hour. For a little while, all goes well, but it takes just one car to slightly change speed to cause problems, making the car behind slow down further, and the next car back to slow down even more again.
要研究这现象，日本研究人员安排 22 辆车在一条环形跑道上，并要求他们以稳定的时速 30 公里绕圈行驶。过了一会儿，一切都很顺利，但只要一辆车稍微改变车速就能造成问题，使得后方的车进一步慢下来，而下一辆车又甚至慢更多下来。
The cars begin to clump together, and this clumping effect reverberates backwards around the track like a shockwave, even leaving to brief halts at points.
车辆开始挤在一起，而这相挤的效应就像震荡波一般向后回传到整个跑道，甚至在某些地方带来短暂的停止状态。
Theoretically, if traffic remains heavy, this traveling wave could just keep going and going forever. These invisible waves of congestion also occur in real-life traffic jams. They create a ripple effect which doesn't go away until all cars return to the same pace.
理论上来说，如果交通维持繁忙状态，这种行进波能就永远不停持续下去。这些隐形的壅塞波动同样也在现实生活的塞车中发生。它们产生一种在所有车辆回到相同车速前都不会消失的涟漪效应。
To prevent a jam, you should maintain a steady speed, so no changing lanes, no slowing down to look at things, and using your cruise control. And you can always carpool or use public transport to reduce congestion in the first place.
要避免塞车，你应该要维持稳定的车速，所以那代表不要变换车道、不减速看其他东西，并使用你的定速巡航。还有你永远可以共乘或是利用大众运输来在一开始就减少壅塞情形。
Another potential solution is driverless cars, which are better at keeping a constant pace, and which can wirelessly communicate with each other to respond to changing traffic conditions.
另一个可能的解决方式是无人驾驶汽车，那更能维持固定的车速，且那可以和彼此无线通讯以应对不断变化的交通状况。
Mathematicians help, too, by improving the algorithms that control our traffic lights, and predicting when and where traffic jams will occur.
数学家也有帮忙，借由改善控制交通号志的演算法，还有预测塞车状况在何时何地会发生。
And now, four fast facts about pesky traffic:
现在，有四则关于恼人车潮的趣味资讯：
Traffic light timings optimize movement for the majority of traffic, meaning that if you're driving against the flow, you could hit a frustrating run of red lights.
交通号志的时间点尽可能配合大多数的车潮动向，表示如果你往不同方向前进，你可能就会碰上一连串烦人的红灯。
Traffic psychology studies show that women cyclists are given more space on the road than men, and you're more likely to let a car in front of you if you have passengers.
交通心理研究显示，女单车骑士比起男性在路上会被让出更多空间，而如果你车上有乘客的话，你更有可能让车辆开在你的前面。
Using theoretical physics to understand traffic congestion is creatively called "jamology."
利用理论物理学理解塞车，被很有创意地称为“塞车学”。
And in 2010, a 100-kilometer stretch of highway between Beijing and Tibet came to a standstill for two weeks, possibly the greatest traffic jam in history.
2010 年，在北京和西藏间高速公路上一条绵延 100 公里的车流停滞了两个礼拜，也许是史上最厉害的塞车。
Stuck for ideas about traffic jams? Check out our website where we have some links, and we'll see you around back here next week.
脑袋堵太多塞车资讯吗？看看我们的网站，那儿我们有一些连结，我们在下周会回到这里与你相会。
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