A few years ago (when I commuted) I was driving in stop start traffic. I basically kept my car moving at tickover in 1st gear while the cars in from would pull about 8 car lengths ahead, stop, I’d creap up on them, then with luck traffic would start again and repeat. A chimp behind me couldn’t hack this and switched lane, passed me out then reentered my lane so they could get ahead of me and join the rest in stop and start routine
This is actually how you help cure traffic, as lots of the slow downs are due to lane changes. They cause stops, which ripple and persistent for hours.
Enough people leaving a 3-4 car gap and not caring about people changing lanes in front of them turns “stop and go” into “go” in most traffic.
And saves gas. Too much over acceleration and sudden stopping will eat your tank supply. Coasting into a slow stop eases on the wasted gas due to over acceleration.
Definitely a good way to go, but it doesn’t really improve throughput. If that gap ahead of you means not getting through an intersection before the light changes, it just backs up traffic more. That’s worthwhile to me when you consider things like higher fuel efficiency/less wear to drive a consistent speed vs stop and go, lower chance of collisions since you’re allowing a greater following distance.
It’s actually similar to the till line issue. When you have multiple tills open with multiple lines, you can get people through faster than having a single line that breaks out to multiple tills. People prefer the second case though because it feels like the line moves faster and it feels more fair because nobody has to be the one that ends up in a line moving slower than the rest. Traffic would probably flow better if more people just let themselves follow the flow instead of fighting for a good position, but the effort spent finding ways to advance through traffic makes people feel like they’re making more progress.
My understanding is that an object already in motion requires less force (gas) to stay in motion, compared to bringing an object at rest into motion. Why else would they need to differentiate city vs highway MPG?
Are you familiar with the concept of hypermiling? If not check it out!
It doesn’t work because nobody else does it. I’m stuck in traffic with a bajillion people and 99% of them either brake or gas, no coast. In some ideas scenario where everyone does it, sure, but in real life it’s a no go. But I still do it.
That’s what I do! Most people only look at the car directly in front of them, but it’s better to look a few cars ahead and observe how the traffic is flowing. There is no need to accelerate if you need to break again in a few seconds.
A few years ago (when I commuted) I was driving in stop start traffic. I basically kept my car moving at tickover in 1st gear while the cars in from would pull about 8 car lengths ahead, stop, I’d creap up on them, then with luck traffic would start again and repeat. A chimp behind me couldn’t hack this and switched lane, passed me out then reentered my lane so they could get ahead of me and join the rest in stop and start routine
This is actually how you help cure traffic, as lots of the slow downs are due to lane changes. They cause stops, which ripple and persistent for hours.
Enough people leaving a 3-4 car gap and not caring about people changing lanes in front of them turns “stop and go” into “go” in most traffic.
Its also chill as fuck.
And saves gas. Too much over acceleration and sudden stopping will eat your tank supply. Coasting into a slow stop eases on the wasted gas due to over acceleration.
Unfortunately doesn’t work, but it’s definitely the way to make traffic a little easier to deal with, and a little easier on your car.
Yeh I do this but it doesn’t really work as no one else cooperates.
Definitely a good way to go, but it doesn’t really improve throughput. If that gap ahead of you means not getting through an intersection before the light changes, it just backs up traffic more. That’s worthwhile to me when you consider things like higher fuel efficiency/less wear to drive a consistent speed vs stop and go, lower chance of collisions since you’re allowing a greater following distance.
It’s actually similar to the till line issue. When you have multiple tills open with multiple lines, you can get people through faster than having a single line that breaks out to multiple tills. People prefer the second case though because it feels like the line moves faster and it feels more fair because nobody has to be the one that ends up in a line moving slower than the rest. Traffic would probably flow better if more people just let themselves follow the flow instead of fighting for a good position, but the effort spent finding ways to advance through traffic makes people feel like they’re making more progress.
Highway only, no lights. When lights are involved my principle is clear the intersection as efficiently and quickly as conditions allow.
Please explain to me how it “doesn’t work”.
My understanding is that an object already in motion requires less force (gas) to stay in motion, compared to bringing an object at rest into motion. Why else would they need to differentiate city vs highway MPG?
Are you familiar with the concept of hypermiling? If not check it out!
It doesn’t work because nobody else does it. I’m stuck in traffic with a bajillion people and 99% of them either brake or gas, no coast. In some ideas scenario where everyone does it, sure, but in real life it’s a no go. But I still do it.
Hypermiling is silly.
That’s what I do! Most people only look at the car directly in front of them, but it’s better to look a few cars ahead and observe how the traffic is flowing. There is no need to accelerate if you need to break again in a few seconds.