the.com/freeway
a river of strangers all pretending they're not racing each other home
means A high-speed divided highway with no tolls, traffic signals, or intersections, designed for uninterrupted travel.
from A transparent American compound of "free" and "way," coined in the early-to-mid 20th century as the automobile reshaped the landscape. The "free" originally pointed not to no-cost driving but to free-flowing, unimpeded movement — a road free of the cross-traffic, stoplights, and toll gates that snarled ordinary streets. The toll-free sense rode in alongside, since most American freeways charge nothing, and the two meanings have happily blurred ever since.
- not free
- named for no traffic lights, not no cost
- Autobahn myth
- only some stretches have no speed limit
- induced demand
- adding lanes often makes traffic worse
- first one
- opened in California in 1940
- phantom jams
- traffic stops form from nothing, ripple backward
interstate 405 — los angeles freeway carrying 500,000+ vehicles daily, frequently ranked most congested in us
autobahn — german federal motorway system with no federally-mandated speed limit, opened 1932
gardiner expressway — toronto elevated freeway built 1958, carries 250,000 vehicles daily above waterfront