Traffic Waves - Sometimes one driver can vastly improve traffic

[no_joke]

http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/trafexp.html

"Traffic waves" are simply a series of small traffic jams with even spacing. Each little jam is destroyed when a large empty space approaches it from behind. If no new cars are feeding into the jam from behind, yet cars are leaving from the front, then the jam is eroding away. If the jam is small enough, or if the empty space is large enough, then a single car can entirely annihilate the jam, as I had done with traffic waves.

Cool stuff. This electrical engineer came up with some techniques that individual drivers can do to help smooth out traffic jams. It's a pretty old article (1998) but it has an interesting philosophy and it gives some cool tricks.

I'll try to sum up one of his ideas: If I see a traffic jam coming up, I slow down to leave a bigger space ahead of me so that the jam can dissipate on its own. Then, by the time I reach the jam, it'll be gone and me and the cars behind me can keep a steady pace. On the other hand, if I maintain my speed up to the jam then slam on the brakes, I will be feeding the jam and it will perpetuate. This leads to stop-and-go traffic.

Take a look.

[ninspeed]

I used to do this on the 22 all the time... and truckers have been doing it for years

[no_joke]

Well, I figured it would be common sense to some but I suppose I haven't been driving long enough to figure it out.

[BlueGoblin]

Its a shame that so many drivers are so self-centred and short-sighted behind the wheel. that few will do it. They think that the only way to get traffic to move is to tailgate and get angry.

[Phy]

I read a related article, I think in a Popular Science years ago. Basically, at a certain medium-range traffic density, traffic actually moves faster than either the densities below or above it. At the lower densities, people speed up to wedge into gaps, and you get standing traffic waves as described above. At higher densities it's standard gridlock. But at this special range, everybody's just moving fast enough relative to eachother to keep everything going at a good pace. The traffic-wave busting method described by no-joke is a way of developing this.

Keep an eye out for it, especially on the Deerfoot just before rush hours.

[no_joke]

I haven't read that article but I think it's the "flow" that peaks at some mid-range density. Flow is measured in the number of vehicles passing per hour. It increases until you get x number of cars on the road then you start getting mini-traffic jams. But I digress.

I think traffic-wave busting takes a bit of practice. It sure could've helped on southbound Deerfoot this morning.

[koopkoop2]

How does he manage to leave such a huge gap?

I drive DeerFoot everyday and the moment I leave a gap longer then two cars, I'm immediately cut in front of.

[DJ Lazy]

Been doing this for ages... wish more calgarians did this... Especially on Deerfoot...

[cidley69]

Related to this, is if you are approaching a red light, instead of speeding up to it so you can sit and wait, slow down far away from it and kind of 'coast' up to it. \

That way when it changes you are starting from already moving instead of parked.

Works great and I think that also helps the overall flow of traffic.

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by cidley69
Related to this, is if you are approaching a red light, instead of speeding up to it so you can sit and wait, slow down far away from it and kind of 'coast' up to it. \

That way when it changes you are starting from already moving instead of parked.

Works great and I think that also helps the overall flow of traffic.

And people behind you driving manuals are going fucking nuts because you are moving at 1st gear stall speed. Make it to the light in a normal rate of speed and stop. I hate creepers.

[cidley69]

Ok, you got a good point there.

I didn't mean 'creep' to the light. I just meant if you can drop 5-10 km/h in a 50 or 60 zone, and not have to sit at the light, then its worth it to slow down that bit.


Drive-on

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by cidley69
Ok, you got a good point there.

I didn't mean 'creep' to the light. I just meant if you can drop 5-10 km/h in a 50 or 60 zone, and not have to sit at the light, then its worth it to slow down that bit.


Drive-on

I see what you are tyring to say but like the above suggestions it would rely on more than 5% of drivers using the ideas.

How about this one:

If you see the person in front of you brakes come on make sure they are not just a brake happy idiot before you apply your brakes. I drive home at 4pm on deerfoot south and right before the calf robe bridge people slow down to 25km/hr because of a chain reaction of brakes. What wrong with these people, the sun has been around for billions of years.

[frostyda9]

Interseting, but Calgary drivers are too impatient to ever make it work. If you leave a huge gap on Deerfoot, you're going to be cut off repeatedly until there is no more space in front of you. Leave a huge gap on a two way divided single lane road, and you'll get honked at and fingered by all the people behind you.

[koopkoop2]

Originally posted by cidley69
Related to this, is if you are approaching a red light, instead of speeding up to it so you can sit and wait, slow down far away from it and kind of 'coast' up to it. \

That way when it changes you are starting from already moving instead of parked.

Works great and I think that also helps the overall flow of traffic.

I try to do this at every light I see. If everyone on Earth did this, imagine how much money & natural resources could be saved on gas and brake pads.

[Singel]

The main reason I do these things is to save on gas, never even really considered the other advantages but it makes perfect sense

[no_joke]

Yeah it's kind of a tricky procedure. On the site, it looks so easy because he only shows you the one lane case where one car has so much influence.

[TaiChino]

Stop-and-go traffic wouldn't be so bad if I didn't drive manual. Holy crap that sucks.