I’ve literally seen a test with 4 cars driving around a circle, and they tell the drivers, “go at a consistent speed and maintain the distance in front of you” and after 5 minutes they’re all bunched up on one side of the circle. No amount of zipper merging and nice ramps will fix this.
Comment on Make it make sense
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
It’s the people not zipper merging correctly. You have idiots entering that are not up to speed and you have idiots breaking for the idiots not up to speed.
On ramps should be required to have their lane not end abruptly which causes the panic. The on ram should continue for at least a 1/4 mile.
eatCasserole@lemmy.world 1 day ago
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 day ago
people not zipper merging correctl
Zipper merging is more complicated than driving straight forward and requires both lanes to slow down significantly relative to the cars in front and behind them.
FireRetardant@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The biggest issue with zipper merging is humans need to not be selfish for it to work. Its very efficient when moving well and everyone is in turn, as soon as 1 asshole sneaks in or prevents a merge, it causes the entire flow to stop.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The biggest issue with zipper merging is humans need to not be selfish for it to work.
The biggest issue is that humans need to be aware of all the cars around them. That means using side and rear mirrors, leaving appropriate space for larger vehicles, keeping track of your place in the line, and - also, yes, not being selfish.
Its very efficient when moving well
If you’ve ever been alongside a semi during a zipper merge, you’d know that’s not true. Their visibility is limited and the vehicle is huge, so they have to move at a glacial pace to complete the merge. Then the people in the leading/trailing positions need to open up a much larger gap than with a traditional car, complicated by the fact that they may not know exactly how big the truck they’re letting in is. And heaven help if there’s something hanging off the back of the vehicle. That’s scary, so it causes nervous drivers to try and get away from the rear of the larger vehicle, which further snarls the traffic.
Like, as a procedure executed by a machine with perfect information of all elements involved, its efficient. As a game theory exercise between individual drivers of different skill and temperament, riding in vehicles of varying sizes, on a road with obstructions and other potential hazards, it is decidedly not efficient.
Gork@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Adding to this, more collector-distributor roads that parallel the highway on both sides to reduce the weaving of people entering and exiting.
This is also why I hate cloverleaf highway intersections, the merge period is way too short and the speed delta can be high.
PlexSheep@infosec.pub 23 hours ago
Just one more road bro it will fix traffic
eatCasserole@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Rhaedas@fedia.io 1 day ago
The best flowing highways I've ever seen were ones where the on ramp didn't end, but became the off ramp for the next exit. Obviously you can't have that everywhere, but it's basically a free flow lane that gives time for adjustment. I've also seen on ramps (older ones) that aren't much more than a turn lane, and dangerous if you don't know the area and traffic patterns.
bananaslug4@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
The issue with this style of lane design is it basically doubles the amount of lane changes that lane experiences, which can make it the most dangerous possible space if exits are close together. I’ve lived around Dallas. It’s scary.
FireRetardant@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My area kinda has this except the on ramp ends quickly merging into the right lane, then the off ramp starts almost immediately after. It makes traffic worse as cars trying to get on cannot merge effectively because cars want to be in that lane to exit. I find the best flow is having the off ramp before the on ramp, which minimizes right lane conflicts.
merc@sh.itjust.works 22 hours ago
idiots breaking
chuckleslord@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Cars cause traffic. Cars changing lanes causes traffic. Cars merging causes traffic. Only solution, get rid of the cars and the system built to cater to them.
eatCasserole@lemmy.world 1 day ago
This is the correct answer. There isn’t a city on earth that has fixed congestion by building for more cars. It’s the places that build for trains and bikes that are best for driving, ironically.
WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 1 day ago
It always comes to a point where the only way to improve traffic is to flatten the buildings people drive to, defeating the purpose.
eatCasserole@lemmy.world 1 day ago
And then you have to rebuild them farther away, creating even more traffic!
Eq0@literature.cafe 21 hours ago
Sometimes, you achieve good traffic flow by making a city so absurdly difficult to drive in that people give up, park in the outskirts, and take public transport.
Example: Amsterdam. In the city, there is almost no traffic, achieved through insanely twisty road signals, stupid expensive parking spots and no gas stations. And still, almost no traffic doesn’t mean no traffic… I can’t understand people still clinging to a car in such conditions.