Perhaps not. It may have something to do with function iteration/Julia sets. Essentially, you repeatedly move a small distance in any direction, each iteration representing a certain time interval, and then plot sets of points reached by the time you get to some number of intervals as the same color.
Also, I can definitely confirm RE: Boston. My mother in law commutes to East Boston from the South Shore. This year, she switched from 8 hours days to 10 hour days, and because she’s no longer in the worst of rush hour her total day (work+commute) is only about half an hour longer than before.
