http://www.amasci.com/amateur/traffic/traffic1.html

 

I really dont know anyone that drives in as much traffic as I do. I really agree with his theory completely and its pretty interesting.

The fact that you don't accelerate fast and brake which causes others reaction times to come into play and conversely leave a gap in between cars and go constant speeds is just a great idea. Too bad everyone cant do it.

 

Devon need not apply

 

1 person can still make a difference

 

I think that one person would make a difference only for a short period of time until they are held up, but you are right. one person at a time.

 

F that , I drive as fast as I can through however many lanes it takes to get from point A to point B

 

Yea, traffic dynamics can be interesting. It actually follows many of the laws in physics after you know how to define everything. Unfortunatly part you have to include the fact that there are different types of drivers, and their type can be influenced by others. Makes everything a mess, not really worth going into a lot of detail unless your getting paid, or going to school for it.

 

^hey that's me....the one changing the dynamics.

 

I think the best people can do is really to pay attention and keep a constant distant and not leave a huge gap. I see those all the time on the left/fast lane, putting 10 cars length as if they're afraid they can't hit the brakes in time. You get 4-5 of those folks and that's a traffic jam. Best way is really to have slow people drive on the right, so they can take all the time in teh world, and let the fast folks move at a faster pace. Slow people clearly don't belong in the lane when traffic is flowing, so why should be be there when traffic isn't flowing? This theory is interesting, but merely avoid the real issue in my eyes.


~Khoa

 

Last year a scientist discovered that if a few percent of cars are equipped with "adaptive cruise control," then traffic jams will vanish.

Adaptive cruise control is the kind which senses whether there's a car ahead, then temporarily slows down to create the proper gap.

So now scientists know the same thing that truckers do: in heavy commuter traffic on highways, the empty spots erase traffic jams... and this will still work even if only a single trucker drives at a constant speed (with a huge empty space ahead, of course.)

See:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...917EDT0043.DTL

 

You mean DURING a traffic jam?

During a jam, all cars slow down, so all lanes go at roughly the same speed. This is a famous mathematical discovery made in 1998 by Dr. D. Helbing, a physicist in Germany. Traffic scientists call it "Synchronized Flow." Helbing found that traffic can "condense" and become a moving grid of cars.

It happens like so.... During the jam, suppose that the left lane starts going faster. Then fast drivers from other lanes will jump into that lane. This packs the cars too close together in that lane, so everyone in that lane slows back down. After all, only crazy people can drive 60MPH with no space at all between all the cars, and not all the drivers are crazy!

The upshot, is that all the lanes get about the same number of cars. And all the lanes go at the same speed. During a traffic jam, the ONLY way to make one lane go faster is to get rid of lots of the cars in that lane. That's what express lanes and HOV lanes are all about, eh?

 

you seems to know a lot about this stuff. not to mention qouting Dr. D. Helbing. whats your profession?

 

Terry, according to Dev, the reason why you manage to "cure" traffic through your driving skills is that you crawl along at such a slow and steady pace in 6th, everyone behind you just passes you so there's clear sailing up and until they have to hit the brakes in front of you...