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traffic congestion
Sign in to saveAlso known as traffic jam, traffic snarl-up, automobile congestion, heavy traffic, traffic, stop and go, traffic delays
condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, traffic congestion is referenced by 1,014 other articles, and connects out to The Guardian, motorcycle and The New York Times.
It sits within the topics Commons link is on Wikidata, Road traffic management and Road transport.
Its subject is documented across 46 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- condition
- Image
- Malaysia Federal Highway Traffic Jam.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Traffic congestion
- Commons gallery
- Traffic jam
- has effect
- road rage
- has cause
- overcrowding
- studied by
- transportation engineering
- afflicts
- transport network
- handled, mitigated, or managed by
- public transport
- name in kana
- じふたい
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Congested Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, which leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion, but which has implemented congestion pricing in January 2025 to address the issue
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in many of the roads becoming obsolete. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the traffic stream, this results in congestion. While congestion is a possibility for any mode of transportation, this article will focus on automobile congestion on public roads. Mathematically, traffic is modeled as a flow through a fixed point on the route, analogously to fluid dynamics.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “traffic congestion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.