Re:Need a PhD Topic? How about cops in traffic
by larrydag on Thursday March 22, 2012 @04:06PM
(#3741658)
Here is a DIY traffic wave experiement I read on this topic. http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/amateur/traffic/traffic1.html. Pretty interesting results.
bump: sorry. the remaining links look broken
Re:Need a PhD Topic? How about cops in traffic
by lesterbuck on Thursday March 22, 2012 @10:27PM
(#3743301)
I read the same article a while ago and added it to my (long) list of business proto-ideas. Here are the notes I scribbled a few years ago:
"Build a web app/site that allows people to practice smoothing out waves, speed up time to see effects easily, animate the process for visual understanding, etc., etc. Maybe even issue stickers so one can identify people who are smoothers rather than just people cutting in line."
Lately, a mobile app or an app built into the car's computer system could coordinate smoothing actions with other cars, and give some feedback on real time smoothing.
Re:Need a PhD Topic? How about cops in traffic
by larrydag on Friday March 23, 2012 @08:52AM
(#3744881)
Sounds like a great idea. If anything it could be a really interesting augmented reality game.
Re:Need a PhD Topic? How about cops in traffic
by TheHegemon on Thursday March 22, 2012 @01:25PM
(#3740865)
I try to do that as well but it's hard to built up a big enough gap especially in LA where a 'stop' can last up to 15+ seconds. Trying to make a gap big enough without seeming like a complete douche is hard and it makes it that much harder that I have been conditioned to speed up as much as possible.
Re:Need a PhD Topic? How about cops in traffic
by chadgeidel on Thursday March 22, 2012 @01:05PM
(#3740741)
I myself try to do that in my lane. Building up a gap so I don't have to use the clutch and can just idle through traffic. I've had varying success with this technique.
I've used this idea to great effect when stuck in traffic by moving into the far left lane, building up a nice gap in front of me, and then cruising at a steady 2-3mph instead of stop-and-go. I've noticed that people generally recognize this as a net-positive and will "follow the leader" with only one or two cheaters (cars which pass me and move into the gap) -- usually the cars immediately behind me.
In order to pull this off, the lane leader needs to maintain a variable length buffer of gap-space in order to prevent their velocity from falling to zero ("stopping").
As the traffic density drops, the gap increases, and you can speed up which ups the average velocity of all of the cars in the lane. Eventually, traffic density will drop down to "normal" conditions at which point cars begin to cheat with increasing frequency until a normal traffic equilibrium is reached (e.g. "not in traffic").
I would love to see an interactive model of this strategy, specifically to figure out the optimum number of lane leaders; less than the total number of lanes, I suspect.