We should be investing in a smarter traffic infrastructure. It would not take much to modify existing sensor and camera equipment that is installed at intersections to intelligently and dynamically adjust to traffic.
There is one major street called Mill Plain where I live, and the lights are not timed in sequence. The result is you end up doing a lot of stop and go, and the streets get clogged with traffic. It can take 10min to travel 2 miles in a 40 MPH zone. Thousands of these inefficiencies exist in much larger cities throughout the country.
Not only would traffic move faster and spend less time idling, but people would get to their destinations sooner, boosting productivity. The roads would also support a higher capacity of vehicles.
The time for smart traffic management is now. Lights and onramps should continuously adjust based on ever-changing traffic conditions. I'd bet we would see a 15% increase in fuel economy just by managing traffic more intelligently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian
EPA tests produce one number. It was soon discovered that the number was unrealistic for "real world" comparison. That number is then adjusted down by a factor, and the result is posted on the window sticker.
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Thanks for the clarification.
Strange that the CAFE numbers are unrealistic. I've always obtained better than EPA mileage, even when I was a teenager and drove like I was in a race.
As an example, the '98 Camry I'm currently driving is EPA rated at 24mpg combined, but I was getting 30mpg before efficient driving even occurred to me. I'm now getting 35mpg in mixed driving, which is well above the EPA highway figure of 28mpg.