[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I once experimented in stop and go Portland traffic with driving the average speed of traffic. This means when traffic speeds up, I allow a gap to develop between the car in front of me. When traffic slows down the gap closes. This minimizes braking and allows me to get better fuel economy in stop and go traffic than on the freeway. My assumption was that it would take me significantly longer to arrive at my destination due to people cutting in to fill the gap. I kept a tally of cars, adding 1 to the total every time a car moved in to the gap, and subtracted 1 every time the car directly ahead of me moved out of my lane. In 1 hour of driving, only 9 more cars moved into the gap as moved out of it. In other words, my commute was likely only 30 seconds longer than if I had driven bumper to bumper. It also improved the fuel economy of everyone behind me since they too drove at the average speed instead of accelerating and braking all of the time.

Long before my ecomodding days my commute was on a long and very busy trajectory. I maintained a safe distance braking gap where the rest of traffic did not, and counted every car that took the gap.

Usually the cars that darted into the gap darted out of it again at the first perceived chance.
Nonetheless, most ended up somewhere way back behind me rather than ahead.
I wondered why, but think I found it.

When it gets really busy all lanes move at more or less the same average speed; when one moves faster it is a temporary thing and usually followed by the same lane going slower again.
So all the lane switching got them into lanes that had already used up some of their stretch, and when the cars ahead slam their brakes there is no time to switch back as they were too close upon them!