The Agony of the School Car Line

For parents across America, the school car line is a daily punishment. The stern, annoyed command from some poor teacher or volunteer to “pull all the way forward, please!” The breakdown of the whole process when someone inevitably doesn’t. The long minutes spent idling, spewing exhaust. The cones, and walkie-talkies, and little signs hung from rearview mirrors that help deliver so many kids, individually, right to their school’s doorstep.

Car lines are a classic tragedy-of-the-commons problem: Every parent acting in their perceived self-interest—Oh I’ll just dropmakes us collectively worse off in the form of dirtier air, increased traffic, less human connection, and more frustration.