8,000 cars per hour per lane on the highways of tomorrow?

[PColumbus73]

Computers can run trillions of calculations per second, I think that forming and dismantling platoons on the fly is well within their capabilities.

The aspirations that we could get a throughput of 8,000 VPH per lane falls apart when cars are constantly being reshuffled. The disconnect is between what a computer can theoretically do and what is physically and logistically possible.

[kernals12]

Computers can run trillions of calculations per second, I think that forming and dismantling platoons on the fly is well within their capabilities.

The aspirations that we could get a throughput of 8,000 VPH per lane falls apart when cars are constantly being reshuffled. The disconnect is between what a computer can theoretically do and what is physically and logistically possible.

If, hypothetically, cars could travel bumper to bumper, with a 20 foot berth for each vehicle, at 65 mph, you could run 17,100 cars per lane. So, 8,000 leaves more than half of the road as a buffer.

[Roadgeekteen]

Computers can run trillions of calculations per second, I think that forming and dismantling platoons on the fly is well within their capabilities.

The aspirations that we could get a throughput of 8,000 VPH per lane falls apart when cars are constantly being reshuffled. The disconnect is between what a computer can theoretically do and what is physically and logistically possible.

If, hypothetically, cars could travel bumper to bumper, with a 20 foot berth for each vehicle, at 65 mph, you could run 17,100 cars per lane. So, 8,000 leaves more than half of the road as a buffer.

If my aunt had wheels she'd be a bycicle

[Max Rockatansky]

So basically this?

[Bickendan]

Instead, we should spend money on high-speed rail around the country. I will not elaborate.

You know what? This idea makes actual sense.

I do think we should still spend money on upgrading roads but a balanced transportation system makes sense. Germany manages to have the world-famous Autobahn and a better transit network than America.

They have density

Parts of the US have density, like the Northeast, California, Florida, the PNW, and the Texas Triangle. We don't need high speed rail between Rapid City and Bismarck.

I'd argue we do, but that's so far down the priority list as to make it not worth considering.

[tradephoric]

How many vehicles per hour down the backstretch at Talladega? 

[Max Rockatansky]

They certainly do a good job at demonstrating how catastrophic a wreck at 200 MPH speeds (much less 150 MPH) goes in bumper to bumper traffic. 

[tradephoric]

Bump drafting at 200 mph, you travel 293 feet per second.  At roughly 18 feet long about 16 cars can fit in a lane per second.  16 cars*60 seconds*60 minutes = 57,600 cars per hour.  I think that's a pretty safe theoretical max.  8,000 cars per hour is roughly 14% of the theoretical max assuming the pack is traveling at 200mph Superspeedway speeds.   

[Bickendan]

Bump drafting at 200 mph, you travel 293 feet per second.  At roughly 18 feet long about 16 cars can fit in a lane per second.  16 cars*60 seconds*60 minutes = 57,600 cars per hour.  I think that's a pretty safe theoretical max.  8,000 cars per hour is roughly 14% of the theoretical max assuming the pack is traveling at 200mph Superspeedway speeds.   

I'm bored with life and in a bad mood. BRAKE CHECK!
Hopefully you see the problem.

[kernals12]

Bump drafting at 200 mph, you travel 293 feet per second.  At roughly 18 feet long about 16 cars can fit in a lane per second.  16 cars*60 seconds*60 minutes = 57,600 cars per hour.  I think that's a pretty safe theoretical max.  8,000 cars per hour is roughly 14% of the theoretical max assuming the pack is traveling at 200mph Superspeedway speeds.   

I'm bored with life and in a bad mood. BRAKE CHECK!
Hopefully you see the problem.

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents, just like those manual shift modes that prevent you from downshifting so much that you'd damage the engine

[kalvado]

Bump drafting at 200 mph, you travel 293 feet per second.  At roughly 18 feet long about 16 cars can fit in a lane per second.  16 cars*60 seconds*60 minutes = 57,600 cars per hour.  I think that's a pretty safe theoretical max.  8,000 cars per hour is roughly 14% of the theoretical max assuming the pack is traveling at 200mph Superspeedway speeds.   

I'm bored with life and in a bad mood. BRAKE CHECK!
Hopefully you see the problem.

Idea that with the small gap, there is not enough time to get significant speed differential. So the crash can be relatively non violent without major damages.

[GaryV]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

[Max Rockatansky]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Further I propose that in the interest of future AI car use we shift clothing to work with the technology instead of against it.  All future clothing should be of Onesie design with velcro pull downs to make using the onboard chemical toilet easier. 

[kernals12]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Yes, it'd be one of the many rules that we impose on road users that sacrifices minor convenience for a few to achieve safe and efficient traffic flow for the rest.

[kalvado]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Billboard has to be placed at least 10 miles upstream, so that decisions can be made at least 3 min before exit for the flow departure orders to be properly processed.

[kernals12]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Just keep a plastic bottle in your car.

[kernals12]

How many vehicles per hour down the backstretch at Talladega? 

I'm glad you posted this. It illustrates that it is in fact possible for cars to travel at extremely high speeds closely spaced. And given computer guidance it should be doable with acceptable levels of safety.

[SectorZ]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Further I propose that in the interest of future AI car use we shift clothing to work with the technology instead of against it.  All future clothing should be of Onesie design with velcro pull downs to make using the onboard chemical toilet easier. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Just keep a plastic bottle in your car.

Too low tech.  Plus going number one into a bottle isn't easy for the female gender.  Going number two into a bottle is just plain difficult for everyone. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Further I propose that in the interest of future AI car use we shift clothing to work with the technology instead of against it.  All future clothing should be of Onesie design with velcro pull downs to make using the onboard chemical toilet easier. 

I'm sure we all would be greatly intrigued  to learn about how waste is transported to parallel dimensions.  I would imagine that would require unfathomable amount of computing power be woven into clothing.

[hotdogPi]

Regarding race cars: they crash a lot more often than once every 300,000 miles.

[Max Rockatansky]

Probably also worth noting that race car drivers don't have the issue of having to stop to use the restroom.  There is a reason they usually pour water all over their driving suit just prior to the start of a post race interview. 

[Roadgeekteen]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Just keep a plastic bottle in your car.

So you support so much advance tech but you can't even come up with in car toilets? SMH.

[Max Rockatansky]

You'd figure it would be something akin to a Dune style Still Suit? 

Recapping the technological proposals we have for dealing with 150 MPH AI car waste removal.  The current list is:

-  Bottles
-  Onesies and onboard chemical toilets
-  Teleportation
-  Still Suits
-  Handling it like you're on the lead lap of the Daytona 500

[michravera]

Cars could ignore user inputs that would cause accidents

So a user sees a billboard, decides that a hamburger would taste good right now, but is prevented from exiting the freeway because the system running 8k cars per hour knows better. Uh huh.

Opportunity for the helicopter grappling hook concept to be repurposed into food delivery operations.  I keep telling you guys that the concept goes with 150 MPH AI cars like jelly does with peanut butter.

Of course one must wonder how is the issue of having to go to the bathroom solved?  In an emergency simply asking the AI car to find you a public restroom might not be fast enough.  For an answer it seems we must look back to the past:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

Further I propose that in the interest of future AI car use we shift clothing to work with the technology instead of against it.  All future clothing should be of Onesie design with velcro pull downs to make using the onboard chemical toilet easier. 

Two separate issues: At 150 MPH, the need for restroom breaks would be far less. If you can get where you are going in 90 minutes, you stop when you get there. At 8000 autonomous vehicles per lane per hour (which almost doesn't happen on trains), you simply program in your rest room stop a few minutes in advance and your car exits and pulls right up to loo.