bilköer

Bilköer, or car queues, are lines of vehicles that form on road networks when demand exceeds the capacity of a given roadway. The term is used in Swedish to describe traffic jams that develop on highways, urban streets, and at merging points where vehicles must slow or stop and then accelerate again.

Queues arise from several triggers: high traffic volumes during morning and evening peaks; incidents such as crashes or broken-down vehicles; road work or lane reductions; adverse weather reducing driving speeds; and bottlenecks at on-ramps, toll plazas, or merges where capacity is limited relative to inflow. Queues can propagate upstream, causing spillback from the bottleneck into upstream links.

Effects include increased travel times, higher fuel consumption due to idling and acceleration, and worse emissions. Driver stress and the risk of rear-end collisions can also rise. Economic costs come from lost time and higher operating costs for commercial vehicles.

Mitigation strategies involve traffic management and design measures such as ramp metering, dynamic speed limits, lane management, and timely incident response. Improvements in information provision (signage, apps, and updates on radio) help drivers choose alternative routes or departure times. Urban planning and policy measures such as congestion pricing, improved public transport, and flexible work hours can reduce the incidence and duration of bilköer.

Measurement and research use traffic data from sensors, cameras, and GPS to model and forecast queues, inform mitigation actions, and evaluate policy effects.