Mathematicians have solved traffic jams

but no one wants to listen

Hello intersectional thinkers 👋

Greetings from Tokyo 🗼! The home with which I hold a healthy love and hate relationship … Funny how we have relationships with cities just as we do with people.

Since we’re on the topic of cities, here’s something I learnt about city planning:

“Mathematicians have solved traffic jams, and they’re begging cities to listen”.

Apparently, there are mathematicians who specialize in traffic flow.

(Please allow me to mini-rant: This is the kind of thing adults should tell kids early on. Some children might not like math, but many would love the idea of directing Hot Wheels, emergency vehicles, and Thomas & friends through their own Sim City.)

Traffic flow mathematicians Krylatov et al. wrote a book titled Optimization Models and Methods for Equilibrium Traffic Assignment to make the point:

“The mathematical approach…is superior to the engineering and economic one.”

Here are a few key points of the superior approach:

1.     All drivers should use the same navigation system for effective rerouting

2.     Convert street parking into traffic lanes on bottleneck roads that are too narrow and cannot be widened.

3.     Adopt Digital Twin simulation so traffic engineers can quickly model possible scenarios outcomes and recommend the best reroute (on that single navigation system for example).

Sounds good in theory.

But just like in any business or organization, the most theoretically superior approach isn’t always the most practical and palatable approach. Best isn’t always graded on merit. Stakeholders (especially the ones that make the $) can hardly be ignored. Solutions have to be cross-disciplined.

So, what do we do if we ever feel like Krylatov – you know your approach is better but people won’t listen?

Here’s a quick trick I learned in management consulting and legal persuasion:

Don’t name your approach “Optimization Models and Methods for Equilibrium Traffic Assignment”.

Instead, intentionally frame your approach for your critics. This sets the tone for every discussion to come.

“Helpful Mathematical Models for Traffic Engineers” might be a more inviting reframe that doesn’t trigger the flight-or-flight mode for the other side.

Afterall, everything is relative. 

* This was inspired by fellow Tokyo-based intersectional thinker Roy Naquin’s thoughts on how data scientists and developers can better work together