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Driving into Toronto, some car is zipping by. Watching it weave in & out. An hour later we're in Toronto traffic.. that car has since gotten ahead by a dozen ca

by __s 5y ago

Driving into Toronto, some car is zipping by. Watching it weave in & out. An hour later we're in Toronto traffic.. that car has since gotten ahead by a dozen cars, which in traffic now translates to less than a hundred meters Amdahl's Law can be applied to stretches of road

brimble 5y ago
It's a statistical play. Sometimes it gets you through a light that would have caught you, or ahead of a wreck or obstruction, or past some knot of cars. Sometimes it doesn't.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
It's really easy to sit on your high horse and say "oh you only gained a hundred meters" but those hundred meters (I prefer to think of it in terms of number of cars) potentially convert to a lot of time. I have the "which lane you want to be in and when" thing absolutely dialed for my commute. On a light by light basis I only move up a few slots as a result of picking the lanes that people will get out of as they make rights or move into dedicated left lanes approaching a light. That inevitably converts into getting through the lights in less cycles than if I had just picked a lane and stuck to it. Over the course of my commute that adds up to 20+min, close to 25%, difference. While I don't necessarily agree with their methodology I think the weaving through traffic people are on to something.
- foxyv 5y ago
  You are probably right about weavers getting ahead by a few minutes. I've seen a lot of these people in a form of denial when it comes to their driving. That their bad habit is in fact a GOOD habit because in the prisoners dilemma game they won by betraying. Meanwhile the rest of the people are suffering because of their actions. That those other people are in fact BAD drivers because they aren't driving recklessly too. That if only everyone drove recklessly like them then the road would be safer somehow. It's utter insanity out there.
- avidiax 5y ago
  To save 20 minutes on a not quite hour-long commute by beating lights, you'd need to beat almost 20 lights. The average traffic light waiting time is 60-90 seconds. Even doubling that and taking the high end of the range (3 minutes), you'd need to beat 7 lights on your hour-long commute. On the highway, if you are leaving 2 seconds following distance, and everyone else does too (obviously more than reality), every car you pass on the highway buys you a grand total of: 2 seconds. Not impossible for you to save 20 minutes if you have a peculiar commute, but I have a competing theory: beating a light or getting in front of a couple of cars is the way you game-ify your commute. You get a dopamine rush from it, and you aren't flipping a coin in the morning to A/B test your behavior and using a stopwatch to verify the results. Nothing wrong with that, but just try to be safe about it.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    I commute during the leading edge of rush hour. My commute is 50-70min assuming no backups. I'm not "beating" the lights. I'm picking my lane coming up to the light based on how much of that traffic is likely to exit the lane into a left or right turn lane. Getting through them in less cycles than I would otherwise has a compounding effect because the luckier I get early on the less traffic/congestion there is later in my commute (because I have arrived at those points earlier in time). The portion with the lights is a "would be a limited access highway if it weren't for NIMBYs" type of road and speeds reflect this. A minute or more to wait for a light is more than the time it takes to get to the next light. There are six lights. The bulk of the highway is after this portion of my commute so a few minutes at the lights may very well mean I get past the problem points on the highway before they become problems. There's no lane advantage at the first light but getting lucky and not waiting on the first light pretty much always translates to 1-2 less cycles waiting at the second. There is a massive lane advantage there so choosing the proper lane means you wait ~2 cycles less. The last light is the worst and +/-5min arrival time can easily have a ~10min influence (the difference between being several cycles back vs getting right up to it and only. I've been doing this same commute and leaving at the same time for years. There's definitely a gambling aspect to it but there is also quite a bit of improvement to be had if you know where to be. >On the highway, if you are leaving 2 seconds following distance, and everyone else does too (obviously more than reality), every car you pass on the highway buys you a grand total of: 2 seconds. Right, but now imagine that working you ass off to pass dozens of cars means four less cars in front of you at the end of your really crappy exit ramp that takes ~30sec/car because of cross traffic. You've just saved two minutes.
- __s 5y ago
  Butting ahead of people in line at the bank doesn't make the line go faster. It may work on a highway without congestion, but if your route is going to enter congestion you're only getting in front of someone who would otherwise be where you are at that very moment
stephenhuey 5y ago
My frequent remark watching so many reckless drivers from my car: RACING TO NOWHERE!

by __s 5y ago

brimble 5y ago

It's a statistical play. Sometimes it gets you through a light that would have caught you, or ahead of a wreck or obstruction, or past some knot of cars. Sometimes it doesn't.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

It's really easy to sit on your high horse and say "oh you only gained a hundred meters" but those hundred meters (I prefer to think of it in terms of number of cars) potentially convert to a lot of time. I have the "which lane you want to be in and when" thing absolutely dialed for my commute. On a light by light basis I only move up a few slots as a result of picking the lanes that people will get out of as they make rights or move into dedicated left lanes approaching a light. That inevitably converts into getting through the lights in less cycles than if I had just picked a lane and stuck to it. Over the course of my commute that adds up to 20+min, close to 25%, difference. While I don't necessarily agree with their methodology I think the weaving through traffic people are on to something.

foxyv 5y ago
You are probably right about weavers getting ahead by a few minutes. I've seen a lot of these people in a form of denial when it comes to their driving. That their bad habit is in fact a GOOD habit because in the prisoners dilemma game they won by betraying. Meanwhile the rest of the people are suffering because of their actions. That those other people are in fact BAD drivers because they aren't driving recklessly too. That if only everyone drove recklessly like them then the road would be safer somehow. It's utter insanity out there.
avidiax 5y ago
To save 20 minutes on a not quite hour-long commute by beating lights, you'd need to beat almost 20 lights. The average traffic light waiting time is 60-90 seconds. Even doubling that and taking the high end of the range (3 minutes), you'd need to beat 7 lights on your hour-long commute. On the highway, if you are leaving 2 seconds following distance, and everyone else does too (obviously more than reality), every car you pass on the highway buys you a grand total of: 2 seconds. Not impossible for you to save 20 minutes if you have a peculiar commute, but I have a competing theory: beating a light or getting in front of a couple of cars is the way you game-ify your commute. You get a dopamine rush from it, and you aren't flipping a coin in the morning to A/B test your behavior and using a stopwatch to verify the results. Nothing wrong with that, but just try to be safe about it.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  I commute during the leading edge of rush hour. My commute is 50-70min assuming no backups. I'm not "beating" the lights. I'm picking my lane coming up to the light based on how much of that traffic is likely to exit the lane into a left or right turn lane. Getting through them in less cycles than I would otherwise has a compounding effect because the luckier I get early on the less traffic/congestion there is later in my commute (because I have arrived at those points earlier in time). The portion with the lights is a "would be a limited access highway if it weren't for NIMBYs" type of road and speeds reflect this. A minute or more to wait for a light is more than the time it takes to get to the next light. There are six lights. The bulk of the highway is after this portion of my commute so a few minutes at the lights may very well mean I get past the problem points on the highway before they become problems. There's no lane advantage at the first light but getting lucky and not waiting on the first light pretty much always translates to 1-2 less cycles waiting at the second. There is a massive lane advantage there so choosing the proper lane means you wait ~2 cycles less. The last light is the worst and +/-5min arrival time can easily have a ~10min influence (the difference between being several cycles back vs getting right up to it and only. I've been doing this same commute and leaving at the same time for years. There's definitely a gambling aspect to it but there is also quite a bit of improvement to be had if you know where to be. >On the highway, if you are leaving 2 seconds following distance, and everyone else does too (obviously more than reality), every car you pass on the highway buys you a grand total of: 2 seconds. Right, but now imagine that working you ass off to pass dozens of cars means four less cars in front of you at the end of your really crappy exit ramp that takes ~30sec/car because of cross traffic. You've just saved two minutes.
__s 5y ago
Butting ahead of people in line at the bank doesn't make the line go faster. It may work on a highway without congestion, but if your route is going to enter congestion you're only getting in front of someone who would otherwise be where you are at that very moment

stephenhuey 5y ago

My frequent remark watching so many reckless drivers from my car: RACING TO NOWHERE!