On green, the first car accelerates, and then the next, and then the next, and then the next, and then you, only to catch the red.

綠燈時，第一台車加速，然後下一台、下一台、再下一台，但就只有你會被紅燈卡住。

Had the cars accelerated simultaneously you would have made it through.

假設所有車同時起步，你就能通過這個路口。

Coordination - not cars - is the problem because we are monkey drivers with slow reaction times and short attention spans.

相較於車輛多寡，協調性才是造成塞車的原因，因為我們反應慢又無法長時間維持專注力。

Even if we tried getting everyone to press the pedal on 3-2-1-now would be challenging.

即使我們嘗試所有人同時起步， 一、二、三，走！還是很困難。

This dis-coordination limits how many cars can get through an intersection.

這種不協調限制了通過路口的車輛數。

And when one backs up to the next, that's when city-sized gridlock cascades happen, taking forever to clear.

而且，當車輛從一個路口塞到另一個路口，交通就會癱瘓且再也無法疏通。

In general, more intersections equals more dis-coordination which equals more traffic.

總而言之，越多路口就會導致越多不協調，然後導致越多塞車。

This is the motive behind big highways: no intersections.

這就是高速公路的原理，沒有路口。

Splits and merges, yes. Intersections, no.

有分道跟合併，但沒有路口。

No stopping, no coordination problems, no traffic.

不用停下來、沒有協調問題，也就等於沒有塞車。

Well that's the theory anyway.

但，這是只是個理論。

Intersections outside of a highway will back up onto it.

平面道路的十字路口還是會塞回高速公路。

Again, because human reaction times limit how many cars can escape the off-ramp when the light changes.

當燈號變換時，又會因為人類反應時間限制了匝道的車流量。

But, even without intersections, there would still be traffic on the highway.

但即使沒有路口，高速公路仍會塞車。

Traffic can just appear.

塞車可以無中生有。

Take a one lane highway with happy cars flowing until a chicken crosses the road.

假設在一條一線道高速公路上，車輛正飛快地行使，但此時有一隻雞穿過馬路。

The driver who sees it brakes a little.

看見雞的駕駛稍微踩了煞車。

The driver behind him doesn't notice immediately and brakes a little harder than necessary.

後車沒有馬上注意到，煞車踩得大力些。

The driver behind him does the same until someone comes to a complete stop.

下一台車也一樣，直到某人完全停下來。

And, oh look, cars approaching at highway speeds must now stop as well.

原本以速限行駛的來車都必須減速至停止。

Though the chicken is long gone, it left a phantom intersection on the highway.

即使雞早已經走了，但牠卻留下了一個隱形路口。

This is what's happened when you're stuck in traffic for hours thinking, "There must be a deadly pile-up ahead."

這就是為什麼塞車時，你總是會想「前面一定發生了嚴重的連環車禍。」

And then suddenly, the traffic's over with no wreckage in sight, to your relief if you're a good person and mild annoyance if you aren't.

但車流紓解後，卻沒看到車禍的殘骸，如果你是個好人，你會鬆一口氣，反之你會有點不爽。

You just pass through a phantom intersection, the cause of which is long gone.

你只是經過了一個隱形路口，塞車的原因早已消失。

And this phantom intersection moves.

而這個隱形路口還會移動。

It's really a traffic snake slithering down the road eating oncoming cars at one end and pooping them out the other.

這就像一條貪食蛇，一路吃掉那些車，並從另一端拉出來。

On a ring road, a single car slowing down will start an Ouroboros of traffic that will last forever, even though there's no problem with the road.

在環形道路上，只要有一台車減速就會造成銜尾蛇，即使道路上沒有任何狀況，塞車也會永遠地塞下去。

If the drivers could coordinate to accelerate and separate simultaneously, easy driving would return.

如果駕駛可以互相協調，同時加速和保持距離，交通就能恢復順暢。

But they can't, so traffic eternal.

但駕駛們無法做到這點，所以塞車就會持續下去。

On highways, traffic snakes grow if cars are eaten faster than excreted.

高速公路上，貪食蛇吃多拉少就會變長。

And they shrink if excreted faster than eaten, dying when the last car accelerates away before the next car must stop.

反之則會縮短，當最後一輛車在後車煞車前加速，貪食蛇就會消失。

Now, in multi-lane highways, there needs be no chicken to start gridlock.

多線道的高速公路，即使沒有雞也可能造成問題。

A driver crossing lanes quickly with cars too close behind is enough to birth the traffic snake that lives for hours and leaves.

駕駛變快速換車道，卻沒注意跟後方車輛的安全距離就會製造出貪食蛇，而這需要數小時才會消失。

It's this quick crossing that causes drivers behind to over brake and begin a chain reaction.

快速變換車道會導致過度煞車，並引發連鎖反應。

But we can make traffic snakes less likely by changing the way we drive.

但改變開車方式，我們幾乎可以讓貪食蛇不要出現。

Your goal as a driver is to stay the same distance from the car ahead as from the car behind at all times.

身為駕駛，你的目標就是與前後車保持相同距離。

Tailgating is trouble.

緊跟著前車會造成問題。

Not just because it makes accidents more likely but because you as the tailgater can start a traffic snake if the driver ahead brakes.

不只是因為這會提高車禍率，而且當前車減速時你也容易製造出貪食蛇。

Always in the middle!

所以永遠保持在中間！

This gives you the most time to prevent over-braking but also gives the driver behind you the most time as well.

這樣能給你最多的時間避免過度煞車，也給後車最多時間反應。

And when stuck in traffic, this rule would get all cars to pull apart the snake faster.

而且當塞車時，這個原則可以加速拉開貪食蛇。

That's the simple solution to traffic: getting humans to change their behavior.

這個簡單的解決方法就是讓人們改變行為。

Perhaps by sharing this video to show how and why traffic happens, why tailgaters are trouble, and how we can work together to make the roads better for all.

可以藉由分享這個影片讓大家了解塞車如何產生？為什麼跟車太近會造成問題？或我們要如何做才可以讓交通環境變得更好？

The End.

以上。

Except, yeah...wishing upon a star that people are better than they are is a terrible solution. Every time.

嗯，除了...向星星許願希望人們變得更好是不切實際的。

Instead, what works is a structurally systematized solution which is exactly what self-driving cars are.

反之，真正有效的方法是以系統性的方案解決結構上的問題，那就是自動駕駛。

Self-driving cars can just be programmed to stay in the middle and accelerate simultaneously.

自動駕駛可以被設計成保持在前後車輛的中間且同時加速。

They'll just do it.

它們就是可以做到。

The more self-driving cars at an intersection, the more efficient the intersection gets.

路口有越多自動駕駛就越有效率。

A solid lane of self-driving cars vastly increases throughput.

只有自動駕駛的車道，車流量會大幅增加。

Hmm, actually!

事實上！

If you ban humans from the road (which we should totally do anyway), you can get rid of the intersection entirely.

如果禁止人類駕駛 (我們早該這麼做了)，我們便可以完全消除十字路口造成的影響。

After all, a traffic light is just a tool for drivers on one road to communicate with drivers on another, poorly and coarsely.

畢竟，紅綠燈只是駕駛們溝通的工具，既拙劣又粗糙。

Red equals "Don't go now, we are coming through the intersection."

紅燈代表「請你們停車，我們要經過路口」。

Green equals "good to go."

而綠燈代表「請走」。

But self-driving cars can talk to each other at the speed of light.

但自動駕駛可以用光速溝通。

With that kind of coordination, no traffic light necessary.

有這樣的協調機制，就不需要交通號誌了。

Just as with the highway, the best intersection is no intersection.

就像高速公路一樣，最好的路口就是沒有路口。

Humans will never drive this precisely.

人類永遠不可能如此精準地駕駛。

At the intersection, the fundamental problem with traffic that you watch unfold, as well as everything, is people.

跟所有問題的元凶一樣，交通的癥結點也是「人類」。

So the real simple solution to traffic: is no more monkeys driving cars.

所以解決交通問題的根本解藥是：別再讓人類開車了。