I came across this piece titled “Jerks actually reduce the risk of traffic jams“, a discussion mainly valid for the U.S. with speed limits c seriously and the huge traffic jams near metros and areas like the Bay Area. Just a couple of days ago, I was discussing this problem, where a friend opined that drivers who drive around 10 mph above the speed limit (which is usually accepted on freeways where the speed limit is around 65 mph and not ticketed in most parts of U.S.) actually help reduce traffic jams.

The piece of course specifically refers to jerks who break rules, but it is valid for drivers who are within rules too. Intuitively, the argument makes sense that if everyone drove faster, some of the cars would have left the vicinity of the jam before the jam. I tried to think of a mathematical proof for this, but gave up after some time. Although it is easier to think of this in terms of wireless bandwidth and clogging. Higher the rate of transfer, lower is the chance of collision.

Back to practical stuff, U.S. freeways near cities usually have a carpool lane (for cars with 2 or more persons) which is usually free during peak hours, and is supposed to motivate office-goers to carpool. Carpooling is fine and should be encouraged, but given that a jam could altogether be avoided if everyone were using that one lane too, and the amount of fuel burnt in jams, I am skeptical about the effectiveness of carpool lanes. I am sure there are better ways to promote it.

Just some idle thinking.

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