TRAFFIC WAVE EXPERIMENTS

TRAFFIC WAVE EXPERIMENTS: " It was dusk, the headlights were on, and I was going down a long hill to the bridges. I had a view of miles of highway behind me. In the neighboring lane I could see maybe five of the traffic stop-waves. But in the lane behind me, for miles, TOTALLY UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION. I hadn't realized it, but by driving at the average speed, my car had been 'eating' the traffic waves. Everyone ahead of me was caught in the stop/go cycle, while everyone behind me was forced to go at a nice smooth 35MPH or so. My single tiny car had erased miles and miles of stop-and-go traffic. Just one single 'lubricant atom' had a profound effect on the turbulent particle flow within the entire miles of 'tube.'



It's always a good idea to drive without changing speed and without competing with other drivers for bits of headway. I'd always assumed that the reasons were philosophical rather than practical (i.e. try to be a calm, nice person.) But my above experience shows differently. A single solitary driver, if they stop 'competing' and instead adopt some unusual driving habits, can actually wipe away some of the frustrating traffic patterns on a highway. That 'nice' noncompetitive driver can erase traffic waves. I suspect that the opposite is also true: normal competitive behavior CREATES the traffic waves."