[traffico]

"ants are following their basic natural instincts and not something that is acquired because of an external stimuli"

But we do have a something of an instinct in traffic situations, it is to avoid collisions ....

[snaronikar]

I agree with Lohit to some extent. Ants are of same size have similar characterstics. On our roads we have different sizes of vehicles with different power.

1) The small vehicle if runs in 1st/2nd gear will consume less petrol/diesel where as if the bigger vehicle runs in 1st and 2nd gear if consumes more petrol/diesel.
2) The taxi drivers and auto drivers are to be taught and fined if they jump the traffic signals and cross the lanes at their whim and fancies.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Few points which makes me think that we can the results even if we follow the ants startergy.

1. Almost all ants are of same size and they can travel at the same speed.

But the vehicles are of different sizes and power, so it wont be easy or simple to follow the ANTS methodology.

just my thoughts

A good observation, however I would differ to this by pointing out our air traffic control. Different airplanes each with different cruise and climb speeds do work in efficient traffic patterns, all provided with adequate sequencing and seperation, only because of efficient air traffic control (ATC). Each and every aircraft 'must' obey ATC instructions to the 'T'. This prevents any kind of 'road blocks' or mid air collisions to a large extent. So we have to some extent managed to duplicate ants here.
How do we extend this control to road traffic is a different topic all together, and would make an interesting topic for discussion

[zaks]

We don't have to go to such a low level as ants to get good traffic pattern, just take a look at any of the "developed nations" traffic and you will see that they have made traffic jam very uncommon. This is because of rules in place and people willing to follow those. Whenever there is more things competing for limited resources there is going to be contention and in this case it is road space. So some good rules and people obliged to follow them is all that is needed.

As it is most of the traffic jams in India are really due to some ridiculous behaviours on the road than any other cause.

[DieselFan]

In my opinion there are following reasons -

1. Ants do not create bottlenecks. They overcome them.
2. Each ant follows the other at the same speed as that of the entire chain. They do not overtake.
3. Ants rarely encounter cross traffic. If they do they are doomed.

I do agree there are lots to learn from ants. Following rules is most important lesson to be learnt from Ants.

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by zaks

We don't have to go to such a low level as ants to get good traffic pattern, just take a look at any of the "developed nations" traffic and you will see that they have made traffic jam very uncommon. This is because of rules in place and people willing to follow those. Whenever there is more things competing for limited resources there is going to be contention and in this case it is road space. So some good rules and people obliged to follow them is all that is needed.

As it is most of the traffic jams in India are really due to some ridiculous behaviours on the road than any other cause.

Can't agree with you more. All that is needed is a good civic sense and traffic discipline to be able to solve this traffic jam to a great extent (atleast in India)

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Nitin

...An entomologist myself...

Thats awesome! I had no idea. Tell us some more about what exactly you do.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

....
1. Almost all ants are of same size and they can travel at the same speed.
....

This is an interesting point, however, the counter-point to that would be, as the article says, some ants are carrying things and hence moving much slower :

Originally Posted by article

Of the returning ants, some were empty-mandibled — but rather than passing their leaf-carrying, slow-moving brethren, they gathered in clusters and moved behind them

Random fact:
Apparently ants can carry items 10 - 50 times their bodyweight.
Source : ASU-Ask A Biologist - Ant Anatomy

Originally Posted by leodelg

.... At an intersection without traffic lights, the cars cross alternatively. I don't know if it is a rule, but I was pleasantly surprised when I first noticed it.

Most definitely a rule.
Infact this is a good example or larger-scale rules which aren't really followed in our indian context - as we are discussing in traffico's other thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...behaviour.html

cya
R

[Rehaan]

Cross linking to this thread :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...g-traffic.html

...which talks about driving at a constant/average speed in order to eliminate "traffic waves" and hence prevent heavy traffic spots.

cya
R

[KishoreC]

That's called 4-way-Stop I guess. The rule is very simple, one vehicle from every side will cross the junction and they will take turn going in an anti-clockwise or clockwise direction.

In US, wherever this has to be followed the STOP signs are marked with a "4 WAY STOP" symbol/text.

[gostel]

+1 on NFS. Ants don't attend driving schools - trust me on this The collective intelligence referred to in this article is embedded in the genes. Ants don't possess autonomic brains. Their brains are wired-fixed and follow predetermined algorithms. Human brains are much evolved; which means the human brain is more capable of randomness in behavior. Notice that I am not even touching upon the notion of intelligence, because IMHO the definition of intelligence is yet unclear.