Technology Review has a very intersting article on ant traffic. Apparently, the general rules of traffic flow and congestion apply to everything from cars to the internet to ants. The general rule is that below a certain traffic level, there will be no congestion. But hit that magical traffic level and you will start to see pockets of congestion or outright gridlock.

But ants seem to be immune from such congestion regardless of the number of ants in the traffic flow. The trick seems to be that ants never overtake other ants. Instead they trot along mindlessly behind the ant in front of them.

So how can this be applied to traffic on our roads? The short answer is it probably can’t. We humans pride ourselves on being independent thinkers. But in traffic terms, that means we will probably be too smart (or too stupid!) for our own good. You’ll never get people to drive along calmly, at a constant speed, without trying to pass anyone or otherwise show off. But, city planners may be able to take the lesson of the ants into account when designing roadways in the future.