Why Google asked drivers to drive longer distances
By newsbot | Published on 08-09-2026 11:51 | Categories: News
A team at Google's research division used Google Maps to reroute a small portion of drivers in some US cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Through their experiment, which was published in the journal Nature Cities in June, researchers sought to evenly distribute traffic across more roads as drivers head to similar destinations, in the hope of reducing traffic congestion.
The experiments increased vehicle speeds by an average of 2% on congested roads and reduced travel times by 0,7%. Scientists have long believed that traffic could be reduced this way, and the experiment shows how it could actually work just fine in the real world.
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The researchers collected data from 10 cities, including Seattle, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Atlanta. While studying both inner-city streets and suburban freeways, they found that in cities like Los Angeles, when they sent people onto freeways, their diversions worked best, with driving speeds in those areas increasing by about 4,6 percent. Most cities saw a smaller improvement, with speeds in those areas increasing by just 0,5 percent during rush hour. The Google study’s findings confirm what other researchers have long suspected, said Michael Manville, a professor of urban planning at UCLA who was not involved in the study. “This is a really nice empirical illustration of a long-standing idea,” he said. If a clogged traffic artery is on the verge of a major delay, rerouting a small number of vehicles away from the bottleneck produces a “not huge but noticeable effect…”.
The Google Research study also looked at the potential environmental benefits of traffic improvements. The paper highlights the reductions in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from slightly smoother traffic flow and reduced travel times, which combine to save about 1.000 metric tons per year. That’s the equivalent of the emissions of about 200 vehicles, a drop in the ocean for cities with millions of cars, the majority of which still consume gasoline, even in San Francisco and Los Angeles. For Manville, the study is a useful proof of concept. “It’s proof that if we managed the roads better, the air would probably be cleaner.”
