The Math that Causes Traffic, and the Math that can Prevent it

Karve, Vaibhav

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/95923 Copy

Description

Title

The Math that Causes Traffic, and the Math that can Prevent it

Author(s)

Karve, Vaibhav

Contributor(s)

• Pu, Yicheng
• Yager, Derrek
• Sowers, Richard
• Work, Daniel
• Wu, Zeyu
• Liu, Xinyu
• Xu, Dajun
• Shindnes, Gabriel
• Li, Wenjing
• Wu, Yu

Issue Date

2017

Keyword(s)

Mathematics

Abstract

"""Mathematics is the language of the universe and symbols its alphabet"" With over a million vehicles on the road, fighting traffic in New York is a serious endeavor that can be best carried forward by first understanding traffic. My research focuses on the mathematical equations that govern the 10,000 taxis running through NYC’s vast network of roads and intersections. The Taxi's journey is understood in two parts -- Time (the timer) and Location (the GPS pin). Throw in the Traffic-Light for forcing regularity and the Stop-sign for enforcing a speed limit, and just as expected, Location affects Time while Time in turn affects Location. This simple math dictates every driver, every turn, and every journey, with New York standing witness in the background. It highlights the beauty of the world we live in -- a universe composed of a million free-willed parts, but one that follows strange yet unbreakable laws of mathematics. Simple as they may be, we do not yet understand the full ramifications of these equations -- what they mean, why they hold, and how they help us predict and tackle traffic. That these equations can be written on a single canvas is truly exhilarating, that they exist truly humbling!"

Type of Resource

• text
• image

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95923

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Vaibhav Karve

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