Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel. Traffic laws are the laws which govern traffic and regulate vehicles, while rules of the road are both the laws and the informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic.

Organized traffic generally has well-established priorities, lanes, right-of-way, and traffic control at intersections.

Traffic is formally organized in many jurisdictions, with marked lanes, junctions, intersections, interchanges, traffic signals, or signs. Traffic is often classified by type: heavy motor vehicle (e.g., car, truck); other vehicle (e.g., moped, bicycle); and pedestrian. Different classes may share speed limits and easement, or may be segregated. Some jurisdictions may have very detailed and complex rules of the road while others rely more on drivers' common sense and willingness to cooperate.

Organization typically produces a better combination of travel safety and efficiency. Events which disrupt the flow and may cause traffic to degenerate into a disorganized mess include: road construction, collisions and debris in the roadway. On particularly busy freeways, a minor disruption may persist in a phenomenon known as traffic waves. A complete breakdown of organization may result in traffic jams and gridlock. Simulations of organized traffic frequently involve queuing theory, stochastic processes and equations of mathematical physics applied to traffic flow.

Traffic in English is taken from the Arabic word taraffaqa, which means to walk along slowly together.

Noun

traffic (uncountable)

1. Pedestrians or vehicles on roads, or the flux or passage thereof.

   Traffic is slow at rush hour.

2. Commercial transportation or exchange of goods, or the movement of passengers or people.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     I had three large axes, and abundance of hatchets (for we carried the hatchets for traffic with the Indians).

   • 2007, John Darwin, After Tamerlane, Penguin 2008, p. 12:

     It's units of study are regions or oceans, long-distance trades [...], the traffic of cults and beliefs between cultures and continents.

3. Illegal trade or exchange of goods, often drugs.
4. Exchange or flux of information, messages or data, as in a computer or telephone network.

Derived terms Terms derived from traffic (noun)

• traffic boy

• traffic jam

Traffic Liquidator and Internet Traffic @ TrafficLiquidator.com
An informational site about Traffic Liquidator and Internet Traffic ... It gets 63 internet visitors per day. Visitors ... External Traffic Rank & Statistics ...
www.trafficliquidator.com

---

Traffic Liquidator Blogs (Liquidation, Liquidators ...
Traffic Liquidator Blogs ... in the Internet which is supported by community of volunteer editors. ... Country Statistics of website traffic ... your internet traffic ...
www.trafficliquidator.com/blogs.htm

---

Traffic Code (Road Traffic, Code de la Route, Police ...
Traffic Liquidator and Internet Traffic @ TrafficLiquidator.com Air Traffic Control; Click Here ... Computers: Internet ... Statistics ... Internet Traffic ... internet ...
www.trafficliquidator.com/traffic_code

---

Traffic Information (Vehicle, Roads, Vehicles, Signs ...
Air Traffic Control; Click Here Double Your Traffic; Traffic; Traffic Code; Traffic Jam; Traffic Law; Traffic Lights; Traffic Liquidator; Traffic Sign; Traffic Signal
www.trafficliquidator.com/traffic/encyclopedia.htm

	New Location:
city:
state/region:
country:

---

See also:

• Business: Marketing and Advertising: Internet Marketing: Traffic Measurement (36)

---

• The Internet Traffic Archive
  ita.ee.lbl.gov
  A moderated repository to support widespread access to traces of Internet network traffic. The traces can be used to study network dynamics, usage characteristics, and growth patterns.
• Long-Term Traffic Statistics
  cs.columbia.edu
  Technical information and links regarding long term statistics. In depth Analysis of traffic over the major protocols.
• Internet Traffic Report
  internettrafficreport.com
  Reports on the current performance of major Internet routes around the world.