I find it interesting that traffic, on a macro level, shows many of the same properties and characteristics as fluids. During the past few years, I've taught afternoons and have avoided the morning rush hour. My classes do finish at 5:00 pm so I drive about eight miles home during heavy traffic. Initially, I used to travel between the Burnaby campus and New Westminster on Canada Way. Unfortunately, there is a huge volume of cars which exit off Route 1 at Kensington. So, for a time, I sped up Royal Oak and used Kingsway. Then, the development of a shopping center near Griffiths slowed things to a crawl in that area.
So, just like water finding its easiest route, I travel up Royal Oak to Oakland and then wind around through neighbourhoods to Imperial Street. This route is between the two larger ones mentioned in the previous paragraph. There are fewer waits at lights and in stop-and-go traffic.