SOL: Stanzas of Life

We live in an era of chaos: a pivotal moment in our societal timeline where the planet appears to be in a state of complete disorder. While the universe continues to increase in entropy following the second law of thermodynamics, there seems to be no brakes on the Earth’s mechanical motor. As each cylinder and moving piston rotate the crankshaft of life, a system of integrated gears, located in the powertrain, drives the Earth’s wheel of motion. This wheel of life rotates around a cyclical calendar, 365 days each year, neither to stop nor stare.

It is estimated that over 1 billion cars travel the streets of the world today (Worldometers).

Time and traffic are correlated. The alternating peaks and troughs of traffic are connected to the clock’s time. Typically, peaks occur between 6-10 am and 4–8 pm. These peaks of congestion are deemed “rush hour.” Rush hour exists when traffic is at its highest capacity, defined by the peak period often lasting more than one hour. The “rush” refers to the volume of traffic, not the speed of its flow, ironically. 

One hypothesis for the increased traffic and urban sprawl is known as “induced traffic.” Jeff Speck is an American city planner, writer, and lecturer who stated that induced demand is “the great intellectual black hole in city planning, the one professional certainty that everyone thoughtful seems to acknowledge, yet almost no one is willing to act upon” (Speck). The theme of “induced traffic” is presented when people choose to travel by car instead of public transport, or decide to travel when they otherwise would not have. Therefore, induced traffic increases the number of people on the current roads.

While “induced traffic” may give some potential insight into why are there so many cars on the road, the solution to traffic is unresolved.

There is hope, though. Traffic can be curbed, in fact, entirely abolished. Self-driving autonomous cars are the spaceships from the 1960s-seemingly impossible, yet realistic. Advanced object recognition, radar-and-laser detection, lightning-fast artificial intelligence are only a few of the latest additions in the pilot versions of autonomous driving.

We are living in the Automotive Space Race of the 2000s, yet competition is between various automakers (Ford Motor Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors Co., Nissan, and Honda Motor Co.) of the 21st century. The stakes are high. With little improvement in the modern features of the automotive industry and shaping of public opinion on autonomous vehicles, we are at a standstill in the cars produced and persistent traffic experienced.

Time, a measure, conveys the notion of traffic. The movement of cars and the rotation of life revolve around this cycle of time in the modern world.