3/5/2011 3:55:03 PM

k

3/5/2011 4:02:57 PM

Perhaps I can offer some insight here...

The traffic problems in my city are caused by these two groups of individuals:

1.




2.

3/5/2011 4:03:31 PM

tl;dr

3/5/2011 4:03:33 PM

As a Traffic engineer, I approve this thread.

3/5/2011 4:12:49 PM

Just went to Grand Asia. Pretty sure that weekend traffic jam is always caused by

3/5/2011 4:21:12 PM

screw traffic waves

3/5/2011 4:52:10 PM

no shit

3/5/2011 4:53:52 PM

Between Grand Asia, the cafeteria, the license plate office, and the church/cult, the South Hills parking lot facing US1 is easily the scariest parking lot in southwest Raleigh/Cary.

[Edited on March 5, 2011 at 4:58 PM. Reason : Physically it's in much better shape than the Western Blvd K-Mart.]

3/5/2011 4:57:36 PM

Pretty sure the best way to improve travel time is to reduce the number of cars on the road.


By setting the price of gas at $7 for non-commercial transportation, this will force drivers to think smarter about carpooling and also cut down on "sightseeing" and "drives to nowhere". 1 gallon of wasted gasoline is already $3.50 out of your pocket sitting in traffic.

To keep the economy in good form, commercial transportation gas will be reduced to lower than current rates so that non-commercial drivers can save money at the cash register.

Main points:
-Less drivers on the road, bigger savings at the store.

-Less TIME that engines are running waiting in traffic and not moving leads to less gasoline burned. A tank of gasoline will last longer.

-Less TIME waiting in traffic leads to increased productivity, often adding 2 hours of free time in one's day. Days will last longer, and you can get more things done with the time otherwise used for sitting in rush hour commuting.

3/5/2011 5:44:45 PM

blame suburbs

3/5/2011 5:54:39 PM

embed pls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M

3/5/2011 6:19:24 PM

ibtasians

3/6/2011 1:02:39 AM

my theory is that EVERYONE obeying the 2-second following distance rule would get rid of a lot of congestion.

that gives everyone trying to merge/maneuver ample space in which to do so. subsequently, the car behind the maneuvering car must respect the move and give the person their 2-second gap (and not ride their ass).

3/6/2011 8:34:43 AM

Stay right except to pass.

3/6/2011 8:42:31 AM

I also subscribe to the asian female driver theory.

3/6/2011 8:59:27 AM

I try to look multiple cars ahead of the car in front of me. If I see brake lights start to come on way ahead I start to slow down so that the distance between me and the car in front of me grows. When the car in front of me has to hit his brakes I have much longer distance to wait until the car in front of me starts to speed up again.

This can help reduce or eliminated that phantom traffic jam.

3/6/2011 9:01:19 AM

Quote :

"I start to slow down"

nope that causes a problem

3/6/2011 10:16:10 AM

Much like voting, nothing one person can do can really affect the large scale traffic jam (unless of course, you're the person getting into an accident). The clear solution is to design cars that can communicate with other cars around them and drive themselves.

3/6/2011 10:28:45 AM

Sources: Wikipedia

3/6/2011 4:12:30 PM

In heavy traffic I drive slow and let a big space open up, that way when I finally get to the stopped cars they've started moving again. So I never have to stop! For example, instead of rushing ahead at 35mph when a space opens, I crawl at 15mph. I'd rather drive slow continuously than constant stop and go.

3/6/2011 5:24:38 PM

diafplz

3/6/2011 5:30:54 PM

Quote :

"I try to look multiple cars ahead of the car in front of me. If I see brake lights start to come on way ahead I start to slow down so that the distance between me and the car in front of me grows. When the car in front of me has to hit his brakes I have much longer distance to wait until the car in front of me starts to speed up again. This can help reduce or eliminated that phantom traffic jam."

It's like you didn't even look at the thread.

Why do you slow down so the space in front of you grows? If you are travelling at a safe distance (safe distance is defined as having enough space between you and the person in front of you in that you can stop safely without hitting the person in front of you in an emergency situation), why would you need to put a further gap in front of you? If the person in front of you is slowing down, you can actually have less of a gap between yourself and the person in front of you.

Your method is what makes traffic worse.

Quote :

"In heavy traffic I drive slow and let a big space open up, that way when I finally get to the stopped cars they've started moving again. So I never have to stop! For example, instead of rushing ahead at 35mph when a space opens, I crawl at 15mph. I'd rather drive slow continuously than constant stop and go."

And with that gap, what do you do when someone cuts in front of you to get into your lane? You jam on your brakes and you slow down even further. Keep tight with the person in front of you and you will make traffic better. Look at the first post.

All you're doing is slowing down the flow rate of cars in front of you, which slows down your lane.

3/6/2011 5:35:58 PM

The I-90/I-94 in Chicago has Ramp Signaling and Reversible Lanes. No busses on the highway. Still incredible traffic can pop up at any time of the day (it's awful during rush hour). The solution would be to build more lanes but that's just near impossible. It's also not politically feasible to charge people to use the main highway of Chicago so that whole tragedy of the commons spiel is kind of pedantic.

3/6/2011 6:01:39 PM

inevitable ≠ irrelevant

3/6/2011 7:10:59 PM

Old people
Women
Cellphones
Blacks
Asians



Everyone knows this.

3/6/2011 9:11:31 PM

i enjoy looking at the OP.

3/6/2011 9:16:13 PM

Quote :

"Old people Women Cellphones Blacks Asians"

I hope that isn't in order of occurrence.

3/6/2011 9:21:25 PM

That is, actually. I'm willing to switch cell phones and women

3/6/2011 10:22:50 PM

you dont list significance. for instance, an old black male may rank higher than woman on a cellphone. (hahaha who am i kidding there)

3/6/2011 11:06:29 PM

Any one of those is in "you're fucked" territory. Combinations are obviously going to be worse.


If you see an elderly, half-black, half-asian woman on a cellphone, just find a different road.

3/7/2011 12:35:46 AM