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Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

trafficwaves.org

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Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#131

Post by eru »

seanc wrote: post #23
krschultz wrote: post #13

It saves a lot of gas too. I've always tried to get through stop and go traffic smoothly without using the brake, but I always did it for my own gas consumption. I never had this macro look at it.

Especially if you drive a standard transmission. Staying off the brake makes a huge difference, and makes for less clutching as well. For bonus points, you can put the car in neutral while coasting, although some don't think that's safe.

On modern cars with manual transmission, the motor is powered with some gas when it is not engaged. However when you leave it engaged an just don't push the pedal, no gas is needed. (Although the motor brakes somewhat. I don't know which effect is stronger.)

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#132

Post by eru »

jasonkester wrote: post #123
rdtsc wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if there is a slow car there, what do you do? Does everyone wait behind them until they turn/exit or decide to switch lanes?

Yes. It's amazing to watch if you're used to driving in the US. You'll get an unbelievable amount of grief if you allow yourself to be approached from behind in the inside lane. Even driving in the center lane, you are expected to move outside if there is room to do so. Try driving there long-term and you'll get fast drivers cutting you off from the passing lane just to teach you a lesson. And no, nobody passes on th…

Occasionally idiots pass on the outside.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#133

Post by eru »

dgallagher wrote: post #128
axod wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's a slow car in the outside lane, and they're not making any attempt to overtake anything, you generally flash them until they move over. They are, after all, breaking the law.

What if a car is in the passing lane doing the speed limit? Asking them to move out of the lane so another driver could pass by speeding, breaking the law, doesn't make much sense either.

Speed limit on an Autobahn?

(OK, there are speed limits on most patches of the Autobahn. But there are some without.)

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#134

Post by Retric »

netsp wrote: post #111
pyre wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember being taught more like 7 seconds, but that might have been for freeway driving.

The point of counting seconds instead of distance is that it works at any speed. People tend to keep the longest (time) distance at suburban speeds. 7 seconds at highway speeds can be over 200 meters. I'm all for safety, but that is excessive.

If you break faster than most other cars will often get rear ended, it's not just cushion for you but also the car behind you. Try to break from 70 on an empty road after 2 second reaction time and see how long it takes and how far your car travels, and then consider what would happen if someone was tailgating you at the time.

PS: Thinking you have a 2+ second reaction time helps to cover when you are not directly looking at the car ahead of you. The less of that cushion you have the more you need to focus on the car in front of you.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#135

Post by johnyzee »

dgallagher wrote: post #128
axod wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's a slow car in the outside lane, and they're not making any attempt to overtake anything, you generally flash them until they move over. They are, after all, breaking the law.

What if a car is in the passing lane doing the speed limit? Asking them to move out of the lane so another driver could pass by speeding, breaking the law, doesn't make much sense either.

If he's driving at the same rate as the cars in the inner lane, he shouldn't be in the passing lane.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#136

Post by masomenos »

nonrecursive wrote: post #74
teej wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what part of the US do you live? Having just completed a cross-country move, I can assure you that driving behaviors wildly vary from coast to coast.

Yeah, come to Massachusetts and I'm sure you'll have an entirely different experience.

I generally follow the stated driving pattern on 95, and it works just fine.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#137

Post by masomenos »

jcl wrote: post #72
TravisLS wrote: post #46

This is a representation of classic game theory. If all participants cooperate to drive as described, the traffic clears. If nobody else helps to open up space, however, you will personally arrive at your destination slower by driving passively, even though many others behind you will benefit. And since this type of driving requires some degree of altruism, you can pretty much rule it out as a realistic outcome witho…

However, if everyone carried 10-15 extra car-lengths ahead of them, the total capacity of the road would be greatly diminished; you would just be moving the jam to the on-ramp. The peak performance of the system is actually a mix of altruism and selfishness.

That's a fallacy, addressed by the site -- in short, the benefit gained by minimizing jams more than offsets the increased space between vehicles.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#138

Post by RyanMcGreal »

pyre wrote: post #107
RyanMcGreal wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My observations are limited to highways in Ontario, Quebec, New York State, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

I've seen some pretty crazy driving in Ontario on the 401 and the QEW. Especially driving in downtown Toronto on the Gardiner. I used to commute Toronto -> Niagara Falls for work, and I saw people do some pretty stupid stuff (people driving at freeway speeds @ 5am, pitch black with so much snow on the freeway that you can't see the pavement at all, and multiple spin-outs along the way).

The worst drivers I've seen in my life have all been on 400 series highways.

I figure if my method can work here, it can work anywhere. :)

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#139

Post by jcl »

masomenos wrote: post #137
jcl wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, if everyone carried 10-15 extra car-lengths ahead of them, the total capacity of the road would be greatly diminished; you would just be moving the jam to the on-ramp. The peak performance of the system is actually a mix of altruism and selfishness.

That's a fallacy, addressed by the site -- in short, the benefit gained by minimizing jams more than offsets the increased space between vehicles.

I think you may have misunderstood my point, which is that peak performance is attained when a few drivers drive altruistically (as the author does) and the rest drive "normally". If all drivers choose the same behavior (all altruistic or all normal), then the system doesn't work as well. This is interesting from a game-theoretic standpoint.

The author says much the same thing on his FAQ page:

If EVERY driver was to constantly maintain a HUGE space regardless of speed, then it would probably cause problems. The merge-zones might stop jamming, but the capacity of major highways would be reduced. On-ramps would become choked as traffic backed up into them, and there would be slowdowns extending far out into the countryside.

It is, of course, a purely theoretical problem, since there is no shortage of non-altruistic drivers.

Re: Traffic Hacks: How One Driver Can Vastly Improve Traffic

#140

Post by radu_floricica »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #99
radu_floricica wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I accidentally get a similar effect when I try to drive a patch of road with the car in neutral. It's a very non-intuitive experience: from the engine sound I'd think I'm slowing down considerably, but from looking at the numbers I stay at pretty much the same speed for a looong time. When I do this before stoplights I sometimes catch a green light with road to spare, and I'm able to avoid stopping at all. This helps…

IANAM (I am not a mechanic) but I've heard that it's bad for an automatic transmission to coast in neutral. Apparently the transmission isn't being lubricated in neutral, there's a risk of overheating, and it can be damaging to shift back into drive at high speeds. In any case, you're not really saving any gas over coasting in drive or, alternately, setting the cruise control.

I don't know about automatic transmission. As for the fuel economy, I find it's easier to slow this way without really trying. Just put in in neutral when you see a red light. Of course it's only for before intersections/blockages, not on the highway.
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