An amateur scientist has devised this method to reduce traffic jams during his commute. I read most of his site including the FAQ and found his arguments to be persuasive. His thoughts are based on personal observation since the late 1990s. I'll be trying this, please don't be mad if you see me not rushing in to fill the gaps in Atlanta's traffic.
Here is an excerpt from his site:![[Animation: highway from above. Cars approach a dense-packed region of slowdown, then drive slowly through it, then race off at the end. Yet the region of slowdown just sits there without apparent cause, and without ever ever changing. It's a dynamic wave. Rubbernecker slowdowns persist forever, even without rubberneckers]](http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/swave1.gif)
STANDING WAVE: a "rubbernecker slowdown" ...without rubberneckers! Traffic-waves need not drift backwards. Sometimes they sit in one place. Once this type of traffic wave is established, it can last nearly forever. New cars MUST slow down as they enter, and that's what makes the wave persist. You cannot dissolve the slowdown by accelerating out at the end, since you're still blocked by the driver ahead of you. The solution: bring a huge space in as you approach it. This temporarily cuts off the flow of incoming cars which feeds it and keeps it alive. A single driver can easily erase a small slowdown.
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