The game Error Prone is cute, but it mostly shows that it's very difficult to keep going a constant speed when your only controls are a binary "Full Throttle" and "Idle".
Which is exactly how some people drive - an ex- used to make me car sick with the way she drove - rather than maintaing a constant speed, she'd speed up 'till she got too close to the car in front of her (dangerously close), then let off on the gas (or even tap the brakes) to slow down.
Annoying and led to no end of arguments "Why are you always criticizing my driving!?".
I have adaptive cruise control in my Subaru Legacy and I have often wondered what will happen when more people have ACC. Or even if I were following another car exactly like mine - would the lag time grow exponentially with more intense stop/go or would it even out? Or does it depend on how well the car implements it?
Vehicles talking to each other will not break a practical traffic jam. The one caused because one car had to stop for some reason or other, now everyone has to stop or slow down in the same vicinity until there are less cars flowing through the area.
I'm not so sure. I think the big difference it would make to have cars talking to each other is that they can all know where the other (within a local range) is heading, make interchanges more optimal.
A lot of traffic congestion happens because we have nothing but (too-infrequently-used) turn signals to indicate our intentions. If all the cars knew where they were going at an interchange, you could at least optimize the flow.
Of course, there is _no_ solution when there are just too many cars trying to fit on a road that can't handle it. And that's probably 80-90% of the problem anyway :(
This sort of traffic jam dissipation is only applicable to phantom traffic jams. Here in Los Angeles, traffic jams are caused by too many cars being on the road.
At some point, every available square foot of roadway is filled with a car. AI can help limit the amount of extra space taken up by air, but that will only moderately increase the number of cars that it will take before traffic hits. That number of cars will be reached, easily.
I often try the technique of leaving lots of space and going at a slower, steady pace. One problem is that everyone re-routes around you, and you induce road rage and traffic weaving. The other problem is that unless it's a straight stretch of road, you have no idea what speed is slow enough.
This sort of traffic jam dissipation is only applicable to phantom traffic jams. Here in Los Angeles, traffic jams are caused by too many cars being on the road. At some point, every available square foot of roadway is filled with a car. AI can help limit the amount of extra space taken up by air, but that will only moderately increase the number of cars that it will take before traffic hits. That number of cars will…
AI will eliminate truck night stops, allowing them to be driven 24/7. Hopefully more trucks will be moving at night. That should reduce the jams.
I have adaptive cruise control in my Subaru Legacy and I have often wondered what will happen when more people have ACC. Or even if I were following another car exactly like mine - would the lag time grow exponentially with more intense stop/go or would it even out? Or does it depend on how well the car implements it?
The adaptive cruise control in my Ford turns itself off if the speed is low enough-- which on Seattle-area freeways happens pretty often. So I stopped trying to use it.
Over here, I noticed it is much more pleasant to be stuck in rush hour traffic than off peak. At peak hour, people know the game and know they won't get anywhere faster by cutting and trying to fight for every inch. They tend to stay in their lane, merge smoothly and all lanes go the same speed.
But as soon as the traffic lightens a bit, idiots just come back to break the peace. I include myself in those.
This sort of traffic jam dissipation is only applicable to phantom traffic jams. Here in Los Angeles, traffic jams are caused by too many cars being on the road. At some point, every available square foot of roadway is filled with a car. AI can help limit the amount of extra space taken up by air, but that will only moderately increase the number of cars that it will take before traffic hits. That number of cars will…
AI will eliminate truck night stops, allowing them to be driven 24/7. Hopefully more trucks will be moving at night. That should reduce the jams.
Not sure how much you have driven in Los Angeles....we also have traffic jams at night.
This sort of traffic jam dissipation is only applicable to phantom traffic jams. Here in Los Angeles, traffic jams are caused by too many cars being on the road. At some point, every available square foot of roadway is filled with a car. AI can help limit the amount of extra space taken up by air, but that will only moderately increase the number of cars that it will take before traffic hits. That number of cars will…
AI will eliminate truck night stops, allowing them to be driven 24/7. Hopefully more trucks will be moving at night. That should reduce the jams.
Not only that, AI will eliminate huge amounts of wasted road even during peak times and with traffic that can't be scheduled for off hours (like people going to work/school). A networked self-driving car can know where the traffic is and route around it. It can provide tools to everyone (from city planners to individuals) to maximize the availability of resources and minimize the time wasted on waiting. Red lights can cycle at the most efficient rate at all hours of the day, reversible lanes (like many large cities have on their primary highways) can be closed and opened on a dynamic schedule rather than on the preset schedule. When all cars are AI-driven and aware of all other cars, they can drive at exactly the right speed, allowing faster merges and exits, etc. Humans are wildly variable in their response time and unpredictable in their behavior in so many situations on the road, that replacing them seems likely to increase the capacity of roads by a dramatic amount. Maybe doubling? Maybe tripling? I don't know, but it will be a huge difference.