A Nifty Visualization of the 'Vicious Cycle' of Bus Bunching

As a video game, “Why Do Buses Bunch?” is about as pulse-pounding as those municipal simulators about street cleaning and garbage collection. But as an interactive visualization, it’s a clean, beautiful explanation for how small delays can lead to big headaches in your commute.

The viz, created by Berkeley transportation-engineering student Lewis Lehe and designer Dennys Hess, presents a simplified city where two buses run a circular route. By clicking on one, you can cause it to momentarily pause—something that might happen if the driver was loading a wheelchair, say, or letting somebody put a bike on the rack.