Plural of headway; progress or forward movement, or the distance between vehicles traveling on the same route.
From 'head' and 'way,' originally meaning 'way ahead' or 'leading direction.' The term evolved in the 1800s to mean progress in general, and later acquired technical meaning in transportation when regular service intervals became standard.
When traffic engineers talk about 'headways,' they're measuring the gap between buses or trains—a shorter headway means more frequent service, which is why some cities feel way less crowded than others during rush hour!
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