Anecdata coming, so keep in mind that this is 100% scientifically verifiable fact: I find that this behavior is more typically the case when there is congestio

Anecdata coming, so keep in mind that this is 100% scientifically verifiable fact: I find that this behavior is more typically the case when there is congestion due to the number of lanes expectedly decreasing. In the case where the number of lanes decreases unexpectedly (e.g. due to an accident), the unobstructed lane seems to be slightly faster on average. When the congestion is due to heavy merge/exit traffic, then I tend to find the traffic moves more quickly as you move away from the merge/exit lane. I always spot against other cars in my vicinity to see which lane is moving more quickly. I certainly do see the behavior illustrated in the article, but I don't know that it's the dominant traffic behavior.