Congrats to Bill Beaty on wsj article

Awesome!

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 Thanks, 
    - Win

There's an easter egg. Clue: it's not in the video.

Outstanding and sad at the same time. Excellent explication of the principles, but sad that so few grasp them.

Mark L. Fergerson

Interesting bookshelf. Yours?

Mark L. Fergerson

Driving home last night, I realized that I've been getting upset at people who poke along leaving three or more car lengths in front of them. Now I have a new view, started doing it myself. Observed several blokes using the space, allowing a change of several lanes they needed to do. If somebody crowds into the space to get ahead, OK let 'em, drop back a bit. Stop trying to compete for every little bit of advantage. Much more relaxed driving! And just as fast really, maybe faster, using Bill's principle.

--
 Thanks, 
    - Win

Lots of books about UFOs.

--
 Thanks, 
    - Win

In addition you get better miles per gallon if you keep a steady speed. It always amuses me to watch muppets racing up to the next car and then stamping on their brakes. If they do it too clumsily the resulting shockwave propagates back down the traffic stream at a speed of roughly vehicle separation distance/reaction time. Phantom congestion occurs and propagates upstream of the original event with no discernable cause.

You can sometimes see the wave of break lights approaching on hilly terrain under high flux traffic conditions. Paradoxically at the busiest times decreasing the maximum speed limit and enforcing it speeds up traffic flow by reducing turbulence. UK smart motorways adopt this strategy (and also using the hard shoulder which I don't like).

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Regards, 
Martin Brown

I have a radar-aided cruise control in my car. Adjusting it to keep the maximum separation (4 - 6 car lengths or more) helps driving in the WSJ way.

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-TV

My "commute" is the about 60' walk from MBR via Keurig machine in kitchen to my office... I haven't had a "drive commute" since 1987 ;-)

But when I did have a "drive commute" I found that a good stereo system in the car was quite relaxing _and_ I agree with the leaving space principle. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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             I'm looking for work... see my website.

That Connector above your head?

Cheers

Photo taken by M. Barkley of SEATTLE METAPHYSICAL LIBRARY, in their flying saucers and theosophy aisle.

Certainly not slower, since aggressive driving doesn't actually work. And definitely faster, if lots of people start doing it (see below.)

But aside from trip-time, I suspect that these open baps are a longevity dr ug.

The road-rage is gone, so it's not shaving years off our lives. Also, once we're not hugging the bumper of the guy ahead, all sorts of other little t ricks become obvious. Traffic jams become interesting playthings. A smoo th fast commute is boring!

Another secret: much of this stuff is ancient engineering knowledge, but fr om Traffic rather than double-E. The origin of nonlinear patterns is shown in the "Fundamental Diagram," a set of curves for average highway behavior . If we want to poke at these flows during our commutes, the critical info is this bit here:

gap(ft) - MPH 100 --- 41 75 ---- 29 50 ---- 17 25 ---- 5.5 15 ---- 0.8

This isn't so obvious in the typical graphs, since they plot the inverse of gap-distance: the cars/KM density. But anyway, the average speed is prop ortional to the average spacing between cars. Change one, and the other fo llows along, and vice versa. Of course this is all average global behavior . If everyone tailgates like fury, then we all drive at well below walking speed, while if EVERYONE would just open up 100ft gaps, the speed and flow would max out. We do get oscillations, where the build-up of tailgaters drains out the dense traffic from downstream, leading to space/time wave-be havior. Highway traffic is a petri dish full of Belousov?Zhabotins ky emergent oscillating patterns.

In other words, driverless cars are *already* wiping out traffic jams. Well, driveless gas pedals.

No joke, see

ACC cruise control eliminates traffic jams.

(((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty

beaty, chem washington edu Research Engineer billb, amasci com UW Chem Dept, Bagley Hall RM74 x3-6195 Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700

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I am reminded of the saying "to a kitten, everything is a toy".

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I recall watching a film in High School (ca. 1967) demonstrating speed/de nsity waves propagating *backwards* along freeways, and reflecting off of o n-ramps and off-ramps, producing secondary waves propagating in both direct ions. The interference patterns were obvious as all hell.

By the way- I've always admired your disdain for the traditional division s between the sciences. ;>)

Mark L. Fergerson

Amazingly, the experts only just discovered a new phenomenon: "Boomerang Effect." At highway exits a surge can first propagate backwards along the highway, then the wave halts and propagates forward, hitting the exit-merge traffic again. It causes an exit to start emitting a constant series of traffic-waves upstream into the highway. Like a Klystron tube. Or a whistle.

I remember in 1965 grade-school world maps, where Africa obviously fits into S. America. That was a completely taboo and heretical concept in geo. Yet every little kid could see that continents obviously must be sliding around on the globe.

I learned that by accident, from being a museum exhibit designer, and a physics crackpot. Also, by avoiding PhD track, I have no narrow field, nor any career-suicide by studying the wrong topic. The false rule of science is, find what the current hot topics are, and jump on the bandwagon, else you'll miss out. Everybody does this. The real rule, the one that actually requires original thought, is to see what everyone else is doing, then very carefully ...avoid that stuff no matter what!

:)

Then get a normal day-job to fund your crackpot garage science.