This One Weird Trick Could Double the Capacity of our Freeways

[kphoger]

Do you not know anything about Tesla fan Boys?

Are you saying they weren't driving enthusiasts before buying a Tesla, but now they are?

[kernals12]

I think it's pretty obvious that the relationship we have with our cars is very different from the one we have with our other possessions.

[kalvado]

I think it's pretty obvious that the relationship we have with our cars is very different from the one we have with our other possessions.

At the very least, there are homes and yards.

[kernals12]

I think it's pretty obvious that the relationship we have with our cars is very different from the one we have with our other possessions.

At the very least, there are homes and yards.

And dogs.

[Scott5114]

One idea would be to allow these cars to use HOT lanes. You could have a device at the on ramps that tells the cars to automatically turn on their adaptive cruise control. This would incentivize take up.

All it would do is incentivize me to drive to my dad's house and have him help me find the sensor for the adaptive cruise so I could take a pair of wire dikes to it.

[Dirt Roads]

By the way, some versions of adaptive cruise control might still have some nasty bugs.  About 2-1/2 years ago, I was in ACC and following a small pickup truck at 72MPH on I-40 [northbound] in the Warsaw area.  After the truck passed the on-ramp, he slammed on his brakes and pulled across the merge lane and over onto the berm.  Once he got onto the berm, he dropped down to about 20MPH and looked for a smooth place to stop.  The ACC refused to "let go of him", dragging me down to 20MPH in a hurry.  I was a long distance ahead of the next pack, so I pulled into the left lane and still couldn't shake him.  He did eventually stop, and once I was past his bumper the car rocketed back up to 72MPH.  For whatever reason, it never occurred to me to tap my brakes or hit the "Cancel" button.

I had another issue with the vehicle that week, and so I took the time to make a report to the manufacturer.  We found out that the ACC would "let go of the vehicle" if I put on my turn signal before changing lanes.  Also, it probably would have "let go of him" if I had used my left turn signal and not changed lanes.  They took this report seriously, and I suspect that the software has been corrected and updated.

[kernals12]

Berthold Horn at MIT claims to have devised a solution to phantom jams that doesn't require complicated V2X systems. His solution is just put some sensors on the back of the car and program it so that cars keep an equal distance between traffic in front and behind.

[kphoger]

Berthold Horn at MIT claims to have devised a solution to phantom jams that doesn't require complicated V2X systems. His solution is just put some sensors on the back of the car and program it so that cars keep an equal distance between traffic in front and behind.

I heard about this, or something like it, on the radio a year or two ago.  Most people only focus on the car in front of them, but that's not necessarily the solution to traffic slowdowns.

[kernals12]

BMW is putting 5G in its cars starting with the 2022 iX. It's starting.

[Scott5114]

This One Weird Trick Could Double the Capacity of our Freeways: let the air out of the tires of every other car.

[kphoger]

I wish everyone else would just get off the road when I drive.

[kernals12]

One thing to note: this effectively cuts the cost of new freeways in half on a per passenger mile basis.