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Traffic

Traffic encompasses various forms of movement including pedestrians, vehicles, and animals using public ways. Governed by traffic laws and organized through signals and lanes, traffic aims to ensure safety and efficiency, although disruptions can lead to congestion. The term 'traffic' originally referred to trade and has evolved to include multiple types of transport beyond just road traffic.

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Traffic

Traffic encompasses various forms of movement including pedestrians, vehicles, and animals using public ways. Governed by traffic laws and organized through signals and lanes, traffic aims to ensure safety and efficiency, although disruptions can lead to congestion. The term 'traffic' originally referred to trade and has evolved to include multiple types of transport beyond just road traffic.

Uploaded by

magzmagz96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and

other conveyances that use public ways (roads/sidewalks) for travel and transportation.

Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws
and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly and timely
flow of traffic.[1] Organized traffic generally has well-established priorities, lanes, right-of-
way, and traffic control at intersections. (International Regulations for Preventing
Collisions at Sea govern the oceans and influence some laws for navigating domestic
waters.)

Traffic is formally organized in many jurisdictions, with


marked lanes, junctions, intersections, interchanges, traffic signals, cones, or signs.
Traffic is often classified by type: heavy motor vehicle (e.g., car, truck), other vehicle
(e.g., moped, bicycle), and pedestrian. Different classes may share speed limits and
easement, or may be segregated. Some jurisdictions may have very detailed and
complex rules of the road while others rely more on drivers' common sense and
willingness to cooperate.

Organization typically produces a better combination of travel safety and efficiency.


Events which disrupt the flow and may cause traffic to degenerate into a disorganized
mess include road construction, collisions, and debris in the roadway. On particularly
busy freeways, a minor disruption may persist in a phenomenon known as traffic waves.
A complete breakdown of organization may result in traffic congestion and gridlock.
Simulations of organized traffic frequently involve queuing theory, stochastic
processes and equations of mathematical physics applied to traffic flow.

Etymology and types


[edit]
Congestion in St. Louis, Missouri, early 20th century
The word traffic originally meant "trade" (as it still does) and comes from the Old Italian
verb trafficare and noun traffico. The origin of the Italian words is unclear. Suggestions
include Catalan trafegar "decant",[2] an assumed Vulgar Latin verb transfricare 'rub
across',[3] an assumed Vulgar Latin combination of trans- and facere 'make or do',[3]
[4]
Arabic tafriq 'distribution',[3] and Arabic taraffaqa, which can mean 'seek profit'.
[4]
Broadly, the term covers many kinds of traffic including network traffic, air traffic,
marine traffic and rail traffic, but it is often used narrowly to mean only road traffic.

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