Computers Could Help Clear Traffic Jams

" Crunching data gathered by devices called loop detectors, already buried at intersections and on most urban highways, computer algorithms written by Benjamin Coifman, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Ohio State University, were able to determine that a traffic jam was forming within three and half minutes after vehicles began to slow. During tests, the software helped California road crews recognize the onset of a traffic jam three times faster than without the application, according to Coifman. The extra time helped the crews clear accidents and restore traffic flow before other drivers could be delayed."