Sorry I can't resist the pedantry but a traffic engineer knows better than anyone that adding a 5th lane (often even a 4th) won't improve traffic except in fairly specific circumstances. :D

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trgn an hour ago | parent | next [-]

That cannot be an emperical statement. Traffic engineers have absolutely wrecked the american city, largely be ause they didnt know the impact of adding lanes.

It's not the only reason. I think that traffic engineers lack/lacked a feel, a certain gut understanding , an inability to feel through the skin. Just look around you. See and hear them at municipal meetings. They are unable to sensually experience the effects of their work, their praxis.

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cwnyth 36 minutes ago | parent [-]

I've spoken with traffic engineers before, and the consensus I've gotten is that, excusing a few bad apples, much of the problems originate with popular or political interference.

	▲	trgn 21 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I believe it, but what's the point of having them then.

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datsci_est_2015 23 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I mean that was kind of my point, but judging by the responses I may have been too snarky.

Both the traffic engineer and the author of this blogpost are well-qualified enough in their fields of expertise to be careful about the claims that they make with regards to speed and efficiency.

A big issue is how those claims are interpreted by non-technical people, especially in leadership. Would hate for my CEO to stumble upon this blog post and believe, based on the title and a brief skimming, that his engineers just aren’t using AI correctly and that’s why the website still takes a few seconds to load its content.

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paulddraper an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

But it will definitely improve, either speed or volume.

	▲	coaksford an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		This isn't categorically true either, the real world is delightfully complicated, far more so than you imagine. The way cars interact within a road, as they enter an exit the road, or how they choose their route can all create conditions where adding a lane only makes traffic worse and can reduce both speed and volume during peak traffic hours.
	▲	Negitivefrags 33 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I'm really bothered by the mindset of the people against this. People act like induced demand is evil. In reality, if more people were able to go wherever they wanted to go, that's actually a good thing regardless of if the existing people didn't get to go somewhere faster.
	▲	dwattttt an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Locally. Under many circumstances. But always? That's not a universal law, as it's a part of a larger system that may perform more poorly if this leg provides more traffic.
	▲	shoopadoop 35 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Check out the Downs-Thomson paradox.