A rat run is a shortcut taken by commuters through quiet neighborhoods to avoid congestion or traffic signals on primary routes. The practice, known as rat-running, degrades the safety and air quality of residential areas not designed for high traffic volumes. Traffic engineers actively combat rat runs by installing traffic calming measures like speed bumps, chicanes, or modal filters.
Heard on the job
We need to install a modal filter on Elm Street to stop the morning commuters using it as a rat run.
Insider tip
The proliferation of GPS navigation apps has massively increased rat-running, forcing city planners to rethink historic neighborhood street grids.
Also heard as
- cut-through