Editing Gridlock (section)

==Etymology==
According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the word ''gridlock'' was coined in [[New York City]] in the early 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/08/magazine/national-gridlock.html|title=National Gridlock|author=James Gleick|work=[[New York Times]]|date=1988-05-08|access-date=2010-09-26|archive-date=2015-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525083512/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/08/magazine/national-gridlock.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  The word appeared in an IEEE publication in 1971 in a different context.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHMYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22gridlock%22|title=Engineering in the Ocean Environment: A Method for Reducing Gridlock Errors|last=Letton|first=Winsor|date=1971|website=Google Books|access-date=2020-09-14|archive-date=2022-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407061926/https://books.google.com/books?id=HHMYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22gridlock%22|url-status=live}}</ref> The first appearances of ''gridlock'' in newspapers occurred during the [[1980 New York City transit strike]]. The word is attributed to [[Sam Schwartz]], who was then the chief traffic engineer for the [[New York City Department of Transportation]] at the time of the strike.<ref>Schwartz, Sam. ''[http://www.gridlocksam.com/about.html About Gridlock Sam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050824212100/http://www.gridlocksam.com/about.html |date=2005-08-24 }}'', GridlockSam.com. Retrieved 2007-03-19.</ref> Schwartz said the word ''gridlock'' was used internally in his department during the 1970s, perhaps as early as 1971.<ref>Popik, Barry (July 21, 2004). ''[http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/gridlock/ Gridlock] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061028080918/http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/gridlock/ |date=2006-10-28 }}''. Retrieved 2007-03-19.</ref> Writing up a memo of emergency recommendations for senior officials, he recalled the words of a colleague several years earlier who had been analyzing a proposal to close Broadway to vehicular traffic. His colleague gave the plan the thumbs-down, worrying that it would simply "lock up the grid". Schwartz was always struck by that image and titled his 1980 memo "Gridlock Prevention Plan".<ref>Kluger, Jeffrey: "Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (And How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple)", Hyperion, 2008,  {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0301-3}}, pp.65-66.</ref> In another interview Mr. Schwartz said that he coined the term in the mid 1970s with fellow traffic engineer, Roy Cottam, who "was a little paranoid and thought he would be blamed for gridlock and so he gave me all the credit".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://simcity.ea.com/about/inside_scoop/gridlocksam.php|title=Gridlock Sam Interview|publisher=SimCity 4|access-date=2010-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318043405/http://simcity.ea.com/about/inside_scoop/gridlocksam.php|archive-date=2011-03-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>