Why the Zipper Merge is faster
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
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Canada's stubborn refusal to merge late is dangerous, anarchic and - amazingly - slower. In some of the better-driving parts of the world, it’s illegal.
Everything Should Be Better: From canned food donations to the lottery, @TristinHopper takes aim at all the pointless and wasteful things we do out of laziness, ignorance or worse.
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Produced by John Richardson and Tristin Hopper
Edit & Photo illustration: John Richardson
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Zipper merge only works if every car has twice the safe distance from the car in front of it. If not, then every single driver from the merger back has to decelerate.
Or... if drivers in the thru lane notice that they are at a merge point and tap the brake to allow the merging car in. A very quick transaction that keeps traffic moving with minimal delay over a shorter distance.
The zippermerge is the same as an on ramp merge. You don't go immediately. You don't wait until it's unsafe at the end. You find an opening and you try to match speeds then keep it like that until it's best to act.
You can do it safely at the end every time. I am still amazed that people do not get this in Canada.
Conspirazy
False. Just as with an on-ramp merge, you either slow down or speed up to catch onto flowing traffic. The only time it is acceptable to come to a complete stop, is if there is a traffic jam on either the ramp or on the lane you are trying to merge on to.
Nobody ever matches speeds. They just cut you off and slow everyone down.
When it's stop start traffic... the merge speed is literally zero...
At least this video admits that there's a flaw in the zipper merge system that makes it crumble. Because there's no way everyone will actually get on board and let people in front of them. We'd have world peace and no hunger at that point.
Don Hockenberry
In Germany WE DO!! And yes, it does work!
i never do fuck that you saw all the signs you had the chance to move lol now sit back and wait for an opening
If more people learn it, then it will work. The world is made up of people, when people change, the world changes.
it's actually law in some countries in Europe (so you get fines if you don't zip, and if you hit another car while zipping, you have right of way and thus are not in fault manouvering into the merge lane).
Exactly Don, I never heard of this method until a few days ago. Hard to participate/cooperate if you don't know about the method. If most are on board it sounds like it is a good way.
I still would want to see truly objective mathematical analysis of zipper merging
I as well, I want to see a mathematical analysis.
No video has ever explained to me how a bottleneck that allows 10 cars per minute through it is any faster regardless of what is happening upstream. The zipper is more efficient because it uses as much capacity of the roadway as possible but it cannot be faster.
@@greggmaisonneuve8388he problem is, that you just can't get everyone into one long line. Eventually the line will go past where other cars are entering the road (on ramp, intersection, etc).
If those cars that are new to the traffic, merge over immediately, it causes backup behind them and onto other roads... Basically jamming up the entire flow of traffic everywhere.
Sure one long stream would be faster, but you are always going to have cars joining mid traffic jam.
Its why they always say, get over early, ONLY IF TRAFFIC is moving at speed.
@@Coach_Brian as I stated the zipper is more efficient at using capacity which means that it is less likely to interfere with other traffic. The claim that it is faster is wrong, it is more efficient.
@@greggmaisonneuve8388 So, it's not faster, it doesn't stop the douche bags from nosing into traffic, and the blockage of cross traffic doesn't apply on closed highways or in many other places. Bottom line, every argument for this seems weak. With warnings miles back from a blockage, merging earlier allows every car to proceed at its original speed. For a zipper merge, every other car has to slow down.
You can forget that in America. We can't have anyone getting anywhere before us.
How does this increase the flow rate if there is a hesitation every time someone that the front of the line needs to marriage?
Correct
This is the exact question i need to be answered before im fully convinced of this method
Great question.
To increase overall traffic flow we have to focus our attention on the restricted lane ahead, not the lanes leading up to it. The goal is to maximize traffic flow on the restricted lane.
If everyone merges early you will get sub optimal flow as people may hesitate in moving forward when the car in front does and there may be fairly large gaps between vehicles in the restricted lane.
With the zipper merge you have two or more lanes feeding the restricted lane thereby maximizing the flow in the restricted lane. This because when you get to the front of the line you are paying close attention in order to do the zipper merge and will move when your turn comes.
If you don't pay close attention in your lane leading up to the zipper merge that's less of an issue, if you hesitate the delay doesn't impact flow through the restricted lane, just your lane.
Because if there's a pattern and a plan and everybody understands it, it flows quicker. When you haphazardly STOP on the road 2 kms early to try to figure out who will be nice enough to let you in in front of them, it takes longer to merge than if you know that at the end, you let one car go, then YOU go!
Exactly
"In Germany, where people actually know how too drive"
Touché
Touché is French though 😂 maybe 'genau' would fit better here
@@huawafabe but French Canadians speak French too, so it fits. Touché is also a part of the English lexicon as a borrow word. It also appears in Creole French, Portuguese and Spanish.
The DOT should put up signs that say Maintain two lanes to the merge point.
They do in MN and I have seen them in other states in my travels. They say to use both lanes during a merge. These signs are usually in the area preceding an upcoming merge area.
Scott B , great comment. DOT hopefully will get it.
Scott B I heard that. They should put up signs that say make room for and allow merging ahead.
prepare for merging ahead.
Make Space.
You see that guy in the front of the line he didn't care about anybody behind him and the guy right behind him in the left lane and each driver behind him in the left lane does not want any of those cars to pull ahead of them and the only reason that is because they didn't make the room for it when they found out it was going to happen and if somebody did slide in nicely ahead of them a little sooner than they felt the merge should have taken place then they feel like they got cheated because somebody pulled ahead of them sooner than they thought they wanted or something so everyone is actively sabotaging merging. We need signs that say make room.
give way ahead.
make room now
Or only put up one sign 100 feet from the merge point that says “Merge”.
Scott B Always...in every instance...
The "Douche Bag that zips by" in your story is just a good Samaritan trying to restore order to the universe.
Yeah, that's me! LOL
This only works if the person at the front of the lane which continues doesn't slow down to let the person in the lane which ends into the lane. As soon as that person in the front of the continuing lane does that then we will slow down.
It takes exactly ONE suboptimal move to screw the entire thing up.
Try it and you will see it works much better.
I use it all the time. It helps me get around, literally, hundreds of cars. I often wonder why the open lane traffic is moving so slowly, while the closing lane traffic is just zipping along.
I like this because it's fair! And great point that it would reduce issues further BEHIND. But how this would get us more efficiently though the single lane (i.e. bottleneck) - I don't think makes any sense.
This. The bottleneck itself is unchanged regardless of what happens prior. Main merit are situations where the back up is impeding unrelated traffic, but that's not what these campaigns for zipper merging advocate.
I can fully agree with the arguments against creating free lane for douchebags and, most importantly, blocking some previous intersections. However, I really don't understand the idea that merging late will actually make traffic faster. First of all, there are plenty of videos to demonstrate that simply changing lanes on a highway will cause the overall pace of traffic to drop, which could eventually lead even to massive traffic jam. If so (and I tend to believe it's true), why should it make sense that merging to one lane could be any way smoother than driving on one lane? Going on, why would the lane change at some point later make the overall average speed higher compared to earlier merging? Isn't that basically the same operation, simply done on different time?
Jan K YES THIS IS WHAT I SAY EVERY TIME!!!! You just spent 50 miles driving in one lane and had no problem doing it. Now that there are cones in the lane you weren’t driving in anyway, you have to slow down 20 mph????
What I also dont understand is how is he a douchebag if hes using the lane he should
It works really great and fast ... for autonomous cars or robots. As soon as humans are involved, it won't work that well as on paper.
It works perfectly fine in Germany
@@huawafabe The Germans are robots...
@@theyeastinfection9871 we are not. Beep boop beep 10011110010
It works IF people understand it & cooperate. It's like roundabouts in Europe - way more efficient, environmentally friendly & safer, but people have to learn to use them properly.
Robots would know that the correct way is to maintain speed, and leave room in front and behind for other robots to merge in early. Because the real problem isn’t merging early, but incorrectly. A correct merge means switching lanes without impeding others, hitting breaks, and maintaining your speed to move to the remaining lane. Using the whole road doesn’t help but hinder the process, as cars must slow down to perform this task safely.
Why do they bother putting signs up 3km prior if we’re supposed to wait tell the last min......I can see this working on surface streets in the city.
they also put up signs saying stay in lane and merge at lane closure.
“In Germany where they actually know how to drive” just scored you a dozen brownie points! THANK YOU!
But yes - it works, and you could actually get a fine in Germany if you are caught not competing with the Reisverschlussverfahren!
The word is simply awesome - isn’t it? 🤣
@@derekakaderek and they learn it in mandatory driving school
If you are properly spaced and positioned (certainly a mighty big IF -- this really needs to be the focus for smooth traffic flow, not specifically where you merge), zipping early or late is irrelevant. Truth is, with proper spacing, lane flow doesn't have to come to a halt just because someone decides to change lanes. Even better, for the person who wants to speed ahead of the rest of traffic (there's always a few -- no avoiding it), they are free to do so without screwing with the flow of traffic, either. Fault tolerance is key to fixing jams before they start. I'd rather be past the obstruction as quickly as possible, not trying to police people choosing to drive less than politely.
We have a name for it in the UK it's called Queue Jumping. It's usually reserved for BMW's, AUDI's and Chelsea Tractors.
In the US, BMW owners are required to to take a class on how to drive like an asshole before they purchase ;)
@@gidgetscores and Mercedes
@@gidgetscores that would be an Audi these days
If zippermerging actually worked, then why don’t we see 6 lane major interstates abruptly end in a 2 lane road? No, it gradually reduces by one lane as you leave the high volume area. A large opening suddenly reducing to a small opening is called an aneurism, and the end result is what you would expect.
Zipper merge is the superior way to manage congestion due to a reduction in the number of lanes. Its not intended to be superior to more lanes of traffic.
Why reduce from 6 to 2 one lane at a time? The zipper only works with two lanes of traffic merging into one. So you do so over long distances one lane at a time.
I'm not sure about now but years ago in Pa.if there was a lane closed the allowed you 1 mile to move over after that you were ticketed .
Many traffic laws state cars doing a lane change must give right of way. So this would not work anyways.
Unit23OnPatrol
It does work perfectly fine in Europe. You know why? Because it’s been taught this way!
This one neat trick means I will NEVER have a problem getting over out of a closing lane. Try it today.
The problem is that no one knows how to do this method.
so the person who drives to the point they can't go anymore and have to merge, the car in the lane that is open is like "what an asshole, I am not letting them in"
So, simply put, start to teach this in driving school so that after 40 years it will finally work, or 20, depending on if self-driving cars are the norm.
or just merge the hell over, you have plenty of notice to get over.
so the zipper merge fails if EVERYONE doesnt play the same game.... which you explain in the beginning of the video is the problem with merging early.
shane b no that's not the case at all everybody doesn't have to play the same game you just need people to not be actively trying to prevent people from merging. Most people are active saboteurs at merging points
Yeah, that annoys the shit out of me. They think you're an asshole "cutting in line" and try to block you.
@@ZoffixZnet Because where I drive, they were behind me and have swung out into an on-ramp to gain a few car lengths because they are more important than everyone in front of them. By definition, that's an asshole. Very frequently they are not entering and merging onto the highway they were already on it.
Here's what I do, i get to the end of the lane, turn on my blinker and then i start merging. People always move out of the way for you, trust me.
@@23Fibonacci there needs to put in lane monitoring technology to stop that crap on all major road networks around urban areas...automatically ticketed for que jumping
This depending heavily, even unreasonably, upon the belief that someone down the road a ways will actually be gracious enough to let you merge in so close to the merge point. I've been driving for a long time, and in my experience, prevailing upon the kindness of mostly self-serving drivers is going to leave you sorely disappointed more often than not. The closer you get to the mandatory merge point, the more the cars start to close up ranks. No thanks. Don't need the headache.
Wrong. Never had an issue, yes you may get one or two assholes that will not let you merge but eventually you get in.
It wouldn’t be someone down the road a ways. It would be the person that has been driving right next to you for miles completely unhampered by everyone trying to merge early like an idiot.
@@1983Jacko But you have to stop the movement of traffic to get in. Merging early does not stop traffic.
@@feedbak007 I disagree. It may slow down traffic but you may also slow it down while merging early.
You ARE the headache if you believe in that system 😆👍🏻
cool. while you're at it, fix road rage.
Pretty simple recipe. Let everyone merge in front of you. That is the only space you control by keeping your speed at a constant pace of slower than the person in front of you. In doing so, every single person who is driving behind you doesn't have to stop. No break lights going off? Means everyone is traveling at the same speed. Means not traffic jam. Means just a little bit of slow down before you start the normal speed again.
I always leave enough space for a semi or about 5 vehicles to merge infron of me.
Reißverschlussverfahren, baybay!!
As someone who spent 2-1/2 years in W. Chermany, courtesy of Uncle Sam's Flying Circus, trust me when I say:
THOSE CHERMANS DO KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!!
0:43 I wouldn't say douche bag, I've done this in an attempt to get people to start the zipper and fill up that lane.
I almost died from a stupid driver and the coordination of this technique would cause crashes no doubt about it
People want to believe it's faster because it lets them go "I'm helping!" when they jump in front, but it isn't really. It _does_ put more road space to use, so doesn't block intersections as often, but you still have to merge. All those cars will be single-file sooner or later, and the bottleneck is the bottleneck. If you have room to get over, then it doesn't matter whether you do it now vs. later.
If everyone uses the zipper approach all works well.
The problem is that many confuse the douche bag behavior (43 secs) with attempting to perform zipper behavior. I just had a large discussion about it. Some think everyone should just keep driving to the end of the empty lane. It causes resentment and doesn't work.
In my opinion you need someone in the "empty" lane to slow down to the speed of the other lane to eventually force the zipper. Obviously this needs to happen at a sensible distance from the merge. Not too far and not too short. Its not covered in the video. I can see from the comments that this is where the issues arise. Some people feel this behavior is blocking the zipper. They will zipper at the end at the same speed as all the other cars. (1:10 in the video) It is in fact blocking the douche bags.
I moved to Canada from New Zealand. I am super confused when I see people stacked in single file. This never happens in NZ and it's not a shit show!
Zipper merge doesn't work in America. In my town Trucks drive through "construction" this regularly.
If using both lanes as long as possible means you leave it to the last minute to get in the correct lane. Now maybe on a clearer day you can do this without problems but, add a few long vehicles and people like YOU get caught out and now require me to have to break to let you in, which then creates a domino effect of braking cars. The merge in turn was never meant to be bumper to bumper, it can easily be accomplished by everyone getting in the correct lane early while there are sufficent spaces to do so without affecting others. If EVERYONE leaves it to the last minute to merge it always ends up with congestion, if EVERYONE got into the correct lane early, we ALL travel through the roadworks at the given speed limit ie 40. The bottle neck and resulting que in closing lane is totally made up of people that didnt want to merge at speed a mile back before and think this bumper to bumper merge is faster somehow. So to all the people saying "the tailbacks trail back and cause problems if we only use 1 lane", the point is there wouldnt be a que in the first place.
Zipper merges store vehicles in two lanes reducing the length of the backup along the highway, which can be a good thing, especially where the congestion interferes with interchanges, intersections or other access upstream. The efficiency of a merge is almost exclusively determined by the rate at which traffic passes through the choke point. The reporter claims it also claims the zipper improves flow through the choke point. I am not finding any technical evidence that that is correct.
The key to the zipper merge is not passing all the way through the backup and to the merge.
Any solution must be a solution based on people not behaving. because if people behave, the systems we already have would already work.
If you're going to offer a solution, offer a solution to misbehaving drivers, not a solution that only works if everybody participates.
A mature and responsible solution will consider that immature and irresponsible drivers will always be present.
I'm not convinced. Douchebags are looking for validation. The alternate of waiting until the last second isn't "merging immediately and as fast as possible." It's casually merging when the safe and convenient opportunity presents itself. If everyone did that, there would be no reason for everyone to slow down.
This assumes there are the same number of vehicles in both lanes. On 2 lane highways, most of the cars are in the right lanes. If the left lane is ending, should drivers move left to use the open lane only to move right again? That doesn't seem efficient at all.
Where's the data for this?
It used to work in the 1980's and 90's when there still was a certain amount of common sense and courtesy but in this modern selfish world where it's all about me and me first there is no hope!
I think it also has a lot to do with a significant lack of driver's training. We took an entire semester out of PE when I was in High school. My son's generation was "parent taught." Taking the driving test is outsourced to private companies. I have friends that don't even know how to use their cruise control.
Explain what is common sense to you
About this i mean
You miss the point. Being courteous and merging early is counter productive. Zipper merge is the "unwritten rule" in Europe and works well. In the US there is less cooperation because people exaggerate the importance of being "free" and acting interdependently.
This principle works great in theory but not in practice. That animation just looks so clever with everyone maintaining the exact same distance and speed - it should be called precision driving just like acrobatic flying displays (even some of those end disastrously). In reality, many (I'm tempted to say most) people change into the desired lane upon entering a road either immediately (so they don't have to think about it anymore and they can get back to listening to their music or playing with their phone) or at the last possible moment because they weren't paying attention (because they were listening to their music or playing with their phone) and not normally when it is the safest time to change lanes which could be somewhere in between. When you ask a group of drivers to maintain the same speed, they will slow down to do so, not maintain speed or speed up. They will go only as fast as the slowest car and the slowest car will invariably stop (because many (most) drivers don't know the difference between "merge" and "yield" (or stop) and, in any case, the Domino Effect* will eventually cause everyone to stop. Different vehicle types also accelerate differently with some large vehicles taking forever to match speeds. The best approach is to always merge well before you are actually forced to by a blockade which results in a quick aggressive change or a complete stop. In any merge once a stop is achieved there isn't any going back without extreme precision (there's that word again) getting to columns crawling again or until traffic lightens enough for the queues to disappear. It requires EVERYONE to do this and you always get some clown who thinks that he (or she) is somehow more important than the other courteous drivers on the road and must pass as many vehicles as humanly possible before merging. These queue jumpers exist everywhere, not just on the roadways. They have the prevalent attitude that says "I'll just take advantage of someone else, we are not created equal and we don't have to get through this situation together".
The Alberta Motor Association is partly to blame for this (as is any organization that can issue a drivers license). You have to try really hard (in many countries) to fail a drivers exam. The Zipper Merge is never on the road test because you can never find a good merge situation when you need to. Just ask the little old lady I got stuck behind this morning trying to MERGE (the sign says quite clearly MERGE) onto Groat Road from 107 Avenue. I watched her cautiously slow down and come to a dead stop right at the end of the merge lane and sits there with her indicator on (lonely sentinel against a world gone mad). Horns from multiple drivers (I know right, so rare) would not budge her. Now instead of some kind of orderly attempt at a zip merge the local traffic scheme quickly became a full on free-for-all. They really need a taser equipped police cruiser to just sit there and zap each offending driver every morning. I have stopped counting the number of rear end collisions at that exact same spot because drivers were expecting the timid soul ahead of them to actually accelerate and match the speed of the mergee(?) lane.
* If you are 10 cars back at a red light and that light goes green, you cannot immediately accelerate can you? You have to wait (unless you are part of a precision driving troupe). The Domino Effect is the same principle in reverse.
You have been a wonderful audience, thank you.
Dude, i stopped reading after your second sentence. Conclusion: you're wrong. Have a nice day.
For zipper merge to work, multiple cars must leave room for other cars to merg..which NEVER happens. Duh
It does happen in Germany 🇩🇪
It's funny because the "assholes" (notice the sarcastic quotes) who cut in at the merge rather than 3 miles early on, are really the people doing the correct thing. The REAL assholes are the morons who merge monumentally early, and then sit in traffic for 15 more mins than they needed to, then get mad when people are taking turns at the merge, and decide to block a merger from entering the open lane because of their own ignorance. This incompetence is far too common on the road, and drivers ed really need to better educate people on how to merge CORRECTLY. This is why zipper merges aren't working good; drivers don't cooperate with each other, or they are ignorant, or both.
This would only work with automated cars using sensors and NFC devices to be efficient
It works in Europe just fine.
@Kevin Lee My point exactly.
When will they admit that this doesn't follow the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (or most provinces for that matter)? This MIGHT be a better technique but we have to follow the law. In Ontario the through lane has right of way. We don't just get to make up laws because we like it. How about we have the 4 way zipper stop where you slow down then zip through when it's your turn.
In the maritimes, people don’t zipper merge because it’s the culture to be polite and patient, and wait your turn. If a car arrives at a spot before you, the people of the maritimes believe you should allow that car to proceed first because it’s polite, so they all line up one behind the other. Yes, douche bags do take advantage of the empty lane and arrogantly push their way in at the bottleneck, but I’ve found that most maritimers don’t even get upset at the douche bags and actually let them in most of the time.
The douche bags you talk about are zipper merging. It’s not their fault that you don’t know how to zipper merge and don’t want to use all of the available lane space because it doesn’t look polite to you.
Agree. The only fair merging system that everybody would agree on would be the one that keeps the order of incoming cars. Something losely similar to the principle of airport snake queues or so…
Add in the cell phone user who won't let the zipper move,the old guy trying to merge early holding everyone up in both lanes,and the occasional old lady who can't see over the steering wheel taking up way to much buffer zones and not doing the speed limit, yeah that's what I observe at the zipper merge!! But we can get through this together!!
Show an analysis when everyone uses one lane and stays a safe distance from the vehicle in front. In theory this method does not mean anyone needs to slow down and will pass the maximum number of vehicles per unit time.
Contrast that with a zipper system where every vehicle approaches at a constant speed but then needs to slow down to allow the merging vehicle to enter……the vehicle letting the other car in needs to pull back to allow additional space.
The zipper system is not faster but it does minimise the tailback distance but does nothing for throughout.
Just dont forget where you liability and responsibility lie. If your lane ends then you alone bear the full responsibility to merge safely and properly. Not the drivers in the thru lane....They dont merge, only you do. Unless it is clearly posted that BOTH lanes must merge together into one lane. Then it becomes a shared responsibility
A line of traffic isn't inherently slow. Grains of sand in an hour glass would take less than an hour it all lined up and then dropped through the hole. Your graphic showing zippering working awesome would work if everyone merged early as well as they flow is still the same. Zippering is endorsed by governments because when traffic is backed up (By gawker traffic or reduced speed in construction zones) The line formed to get through would he half as long if people used the two lanes and this helps avoid backups through intersections etc.
Everyone can merge early. That just means a wide open lane for me!
Exactly.
Austin A
Ha... that’s my kinda thinking. Let everybody else stand in line and wait while the other lane is wide open. Smh...
Austin A an open lane, that you know is ending, meaning you’ll have to cut someone off once you hit the end of it since I’m sure you’ll be zooming to get nowhere
@@extremeencounter7458 the lane ends so either people will slow down, speed up or change lanes to let you in. Been doing it my whole life. I waste id say about 20 minutes of driving everyday because people merge early. Slows everyone down.
Jackass.
At 1 minute 10 seconds you say “stay right the hell in your own lane”, but I bring forth a question, is it not the law to be in the right hand lane unless passing? No one should be in the left lane like you so have your toy cars layed out except for the couple of people in the process of passing. You have your mock up set up for a scenario that doesn’t exist. If you want to do it right, place every toy car in the right hand lane and explain how to properly zipper to the left hand lane. I’ll wait
_Should_ be. But does _everyone_ stay in the right lane at all times? Unfortunately hell no
I have to disagree, this will not work because people don't know what they are doing on the road. The average sedan is around 15 feet so if you have 24 cars trying to cut in your line using the zipper method or not it will slow everything down because 24 sedans equals to 1 football field. Somebody is losing space and/or distance when you have a football field cutting into your line.
Merge early and let the open lane maintain more speed .Your using logic here ..I don t think this uploading muppet understands logic
Ah and there is the problem "your line" stop thinking as if you own it and someone is taking it from you.
Nova Scotia used to use the Zipper but now there are so many non NOVA SCOTIANS here now that cant drive and mess things up like they did where the use to live.
Bumper to bumper traffic, who will let closing lane cars in? Not many. Put in turn signal and accept any chance to get in line. Or go to end and sit while bumper to bumper cars pass you by.
This might work well in Europe, where just to get a driver's license, you have to spend thousands, and Driving School is months long.
Their drivers are better at many things, than American drivers. Especially merges. In AZ, you can get a license after a 6 minute road test, consisting of only right turns at stop signs in a neighborhood.
And it doesn't expire for 50 years!
No left turns, no lane changes, no freeway, no parallel parking, on most AZ road tests. American drivers are dangerously underqualified compared to German or English drivers.
This video is attributing way too much faith in the competency of others and ignoring the reality, that a LOT of people here are just playing on Facebook while driving, and don't even notice there was a merge until they are leaving skidmarks up the wall. Zipper merges on the i17 (4th deadliest highway in America) cause tons of wrecks and traffic jams, that otherwise wouldn't have happened if everyone wasn't looking at their phones.
When you're driving in the US, not everything works the same way it does in Germany. In a perfect driving world, sure. But some people are unrealistic in their expectations of others.
@CommandoDude some times, in some countries, yes. Some places don't honor those though...
This might work in the lab but it won't work on the road. Not in America.
It does work in America and on real roads. Colorado have been successful in fostering this behavior and with positive results.
www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/why-last-second-lane-mergers-are-good-for-traffic.html
"Won't work for us" is a poor excuse for not changing ingrained habits. You aren't that special or different.
😂🤣 works terrific on paper!
And with toy cars with ONE mind controlling them. Why are there exactly ZERO videos of this working in real life as described? 🤣
problem with zipper merge, slow pokes, nobody wants to be stuck behind a slow driver, so they don't let anyone merge in, even if it would cause the person attempting to merge to crash, all so they won't be stuck behind a slow poke
Lane ends in 1000 feet. Adjust accordingly. The problem isn't those recognizing their lane is ending and adjusting within the flow of traffic, it's the dimwits that DON'T recognize their lane is ending, or speed up to try and jump ahead of the traffic.
One argument is that there would be no where for them to speed through if both lanes were being equally used.
Heat Lifer So if a lane is ending in 1000 feet, why merge over 800 feet early? If a lane is open, then I’m using it until it isn’t open anymore!
Lol I didn't say merge over 800 feet early (unless you want to), I said adjust within the flow of traffic, 800 feet up, 750, 400 take your pick just try to do it smoothly without being a jerk lol
Heat Lifer But that's the whole point, people see that a lane is ending and want to get over right away when they should stay where they are so both lanes are being utilized to the fullest. If everybody did this then they wouldn't be able to speed up and jump ahead of traffic because both lanes would be moving about the same.
Correct and when traffic is basically at a stand still most people aren't on the ball enough to maintain bumper to bumper so even if there are some angry drivers not wanting to let you merge, a late merger can easily squeeze in before long at all. Late mergers may not be rude but are more educated and understand that there will be gaps (due to human drivers not being so efficient as to maintain zero space between cars) for the 2nd lane to fit to easily merge in making flow through the bottleneck faster.
In Germany the Reißverschlussverfahren is more reliable than the internet.
If I stay in the closed lane until the last minute, I then have to depend on someone not being a douche-bag and letting me in.
The open lane is the best place for a responsible driver so they can leave a space in front for all the last-minute douche-bags to cut in.
I prefer to maintain control of my surroundings by merging at a time and place of my choosing rather than letting the flow of traffic tell me where and when to go.
The only way to properly enforce this is a stoplight like a metered on-ramp.
This is very easily fixed. Put the cones in the middle of the road. As in. The opening of the bottle neck is in the center of the lane. Both lanes cross the line to merge into the center and yes. The zipper starts way before the bottle neck. Do not open the lanes to the left or right when you are picking your spot in the zipper merge. Rather you slightly put your car into the center and the car in front of you is slightly in the center and the car behind you is slightly in the center.
All of a sudden no one can pass you but you can be ready for the bottleneck way before it gets close to you. Also allowing the flow of traffic to keep a decent speed rather than crawling through the bottleneck when someone can't figure out the timing.
Now all the cones have to do is push the traffic to either side they want.
no one lets you zipper. everyone rides the persons bumper in front of them and won't let you zipper
A system predicated on everyone not being assholes. That's the "safest system".
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright.
You call the guy a douchebag then say you need to cooperate with him. So which is it?
How is having one queue any more dangerous than having two queues??
One issue is the length of the stoppage. Not usually a major problem on interstates, but if there are intersections it means you could have traffic build up into intersections behind the merge.
2 queues makes for (roughly) half the length
Science! Do you DENY?
Looks good on paper.
Does not work in practice.
Yes it does.
@@JeanPierreWhite nope. Its a mess everytime.
I understand how its _supposed_ to work, but thats not what happens in the real world.
@@ogChaaka I've seen it work just fine and studies reflect my experience.
@tomyourmom connect.ncdot.gov/projects/research/RNAProjDocs/2015-08%20Final%20Report.pdf
www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/05-r6.pdf
There's this thing called Google.
Goodluck with people letting you in, forcing you to stop at the merge and wait
Most people do let you in. There are occasional people who do not, its more the exception than you realize.
Ok, but if we had a fully-autonomous, self-driving car system, controlled by some centralized computer, can you really imagine it coordinating all cars to use this method of merging at the last second in a 20-50' length of road? I still think that a system where cars merged earlier (or at least in a way to minimize any decrease in speed) would be more efficient. I can't imagine cars merging in that short of a distance at higher speeds (at least not safely)
Take turns merging...
It's apparent that the person who made this video has never driven before.
If you want to fix the whole problem you need to have the early merge system WITH flashing signs that tell cars not to pass, only merge and to do so early, thus preventing the 'douche-bag' divers mentioned. If they decide to zip ahead to add in the zipper merge they get pulled over by the police and ticketed. That way you don't get Early Merge + Zipper Merge where people are trying to keep the 'Douche-bag' from zippering in last minute. Early merge is much faster when you don't have the zipper idiots trying to cut in last minute as the early merge system allows more flexibility in spacing and speed adjustment.
Totally false. Do your research instead of showing your ignorance and start the name calling.
Cobaltclass exactly how they teach you to do this in drivers ed and on your DMV driving exam. Merge early!
Hindi mo kami maloloko Pau Gasol
I have been 'paced' on numerous occasions doing this until I was forced to stop because I ran out of road. This is a nice concept until you get idiots that think you have no rights on their road.
Funny I have driven for years and this problem only has been around for the last decade or so. You know when they started teaching kids this way was correct. Before then people merged early into the flow of traffic and all continued with out having to slow to a crawl.
Once someone finally rides the middle and blocks the offending lane, forcing everyone behind to merge properly, traffic miraculously clears out. Proponents of this flawed theory are looking at the zipper upside down. Both sides of the zipper are not pushed through the zipper pull, the pull is begun with the first two teeth, then progresses up the zipper.
Have yet to see proof that this works. Show me the “science”.
Yeah I agree with this. But it's sort of like the idea of communism. People aren't ants or robots. They have flaws so therefore you're always going to have people that will not listen to this. In theory it works great
you failed to consider one thing if the zipper merge is coming from the right how would you know the driver on the left will give in? I would suggest to slow turn to the left before the end of the lend that way there is still time to let some douche bags from the left to go forward
I drove all the way up to the end everytime when getting on a freeway. Works everytime. Meanwhile there 4 people behind me almost coming to stop to be "polite" when really there just slowing everyone down in the process. I think people are just scared to do it. Pretty stupid if you ask me.
Zipper merge has never worked and never will. It's simple math that one car will not fit in between two other cars that are bumper to bumper. Prove me wrong.
duffkc
You must have never driven in Europe. Works like a charm!
You shouldn't be bumper to bumper in the first place
@@dreaminginpuertorico3290 They also have those goofy traffic circles in Europe, so that means that all their strange driving habits actually work?
The point is that by not filling all of the lanes, you are moving the congestion further back, which is in turn causing congestion on junctions further back and so on and so on, its not just about you, stuck in you lane waiting in line!
Works every morning in my commute.
You could spend a while laughing at this. Single file people crash so let's make 2 separate single file lines and add a zipper merge with drivers with me 1st attitude 😒
Let's try this in Toronto to cut down on road rage:
ruclips.net/video/fhYpA9ogWUA/видео.html
Well... that didn't go so well. Hey, we'll try it on the 401 next...
The zipper merge system sucks for these reasons
1. It can only be used when traffic is at a very slow rate maybe 10mph - you could never do this at faster rate
2. 1 lane of traffic could very easily handle far more cars than the zipper rate can.
3. In a traditional early merge , The cars that need to merge must get with the flow of traffic, similar to how cars merge on an entrance ramp of a highway, keeping traffic moving much faster then zipper.
This video is false and helps to slow traffic, please do more research
Zipper merge is intended for congested work zones, you are right at high speed it is not necessary or desirable.
This would never work in the real world...
It does work. Its worked for years in MN. WA just dopted as well once they did the study and found how much time it saves.
@jeff furrow, engineers won't even admit the car engine works 100% of the time...I don't understand where you're getting this information from, engineers build everything around you lol...
It mostly works in Germany though
What they are saying is, "it would work with people driving intelligently" but people are idiots so it's not near as effective as it could be
B,S, I do it, successfully, almost every day in a Province with some of the worst drivers anywhere. All that is required is knowing how to operate a motor vehicle and a little confidence...
What a load of bull sh*t. All the problems that are inherent in single lane is there in Zipper. You solution is to cooperate. That very same cooperation would make single lane every bit as fast if not faster. I noticed your visual setup shows the single lane had large trucks. But your "Zipper" only showed small cars. My guess would be things like large trucks, buses and the like will screw up Zipper just like single lane. Now in Saint John NB they did a amazing thing. They started the merge lane far far down the road before traffic got heavy. Works like a charm. Only part that slow it down is an ill placed on ramp. People "Zipper Merge" and it all goes to shit then. Slows it down to crawl. I have yet to see a real video showing zipper merge working like planned, Still haven't seen one yet, other than one that was set up.
I mean, this is really why we need fully self driving cars, at least in congested cities. Humans are just bad at this
So this was a pointless video 🙄
Get real! Do you honestly think people will merge like this? What planet are you from.
Yes, and they do here in California.
Plenty of people on this planet do this. Tend to be in Europe.
This is just bad….bad advice 🤦♂️
False title; He gives no evidence or reason why the zipper-merge is the fastest option. He simply states that it is.
Correct. The analysis was not deep enough. It does work BTW.
You said it's scientifically proven to be faster and the title says why it's faster, but you never actually explained why it's faster! It's 1 lane and you can fit 1 line of cars though it. It can't be faster if two lanes or 1 lane are coming in to it. 1 + 1 doesn't equal 1.
My guess is if there is "quicker cooperation" at the last minute merge point and people know to do the one to one lane merge. That's the only hint I got out of why it might be faster. But I thought the same thing as you.
It's faster because it cuts the bunch and stretch effect in half by using two parallel lines. Also everyone knows where when and how to merge, instead of the "find a gap in the line" method. This also prevents "close the gap drivers" from following to close.
Go on a 2-lane highway (1-lane side). Now add a truck lane (2-lane side). Did you get there faster? Really basic stuff here.
Chris Deal science actually disproves zippermerging. Water flows through a long slender funnel faster than through a large balloon with a pinhole at the end of it.
Agreed.
He doesn't actually explain why it's more efficient.
Here goes the interwebs making videos and people accept it as cash.
Not going to happen. In Germany those of us with better cars get to zip ahead and roar in, leaving those of you with the cheap cars behind lol
Until someone comes along that thinks that they have a better car than you. Then the race is on.......
Many years ago I learned when driving on a multilane highway to leave one car length between you and the car in front of you for every 10 miles per hour of speed you were both traveling. These days that is fruitless as the speeders dart in and out of every space they can find including the go through lane so there are no spaces left in the go through lane and everyone has to slow down.
Usually the people I see complaining about 'speeders' are the ones doing at or under the limit; acting as bandleaders to huge lineups of cars crawling behind them. This is especially bad when those who will be damned if they do 1km over the limit refuse to move out of the left lane (AKA the fast or passing lane). There's being safe, and then there's observing "safety" and law to the letter. If everyone drove exactly the way they were taught in driver's ed in regard to never speeding, leaving x car-lengths between cars when coming a stop, counting x seconds for proper spacing when turning onto a road, etc etc, then traffic would never get anywhere.
I've come to learn the best way to deal with dangerous speeders is simply get out of their way; let them pass, whatever. Leaving lots of space between you and the car ahead is also great _when feasible._ A lot of times it's simply too busy to stick 100% to the rules, and then all you're doing by continuing to slow down, speed up, move around etc to keep your buffer length regardless of conditions and traffic is just hold everyone else up. This isn't to approve tailgaiting either, just common sense and common courtesy. Again if everyone followed such 'rules' to the letter, our roadways would all but grind to a standstill.
The problem exists because whatever system whatever system we try, people try to prevent merging.
If I let more than one person in a merge point OR leave an open space ahead of me (let's say creeping traffic at a construction zone) people behind me always start honking at me leaving a full car length of space that I leave ahead of me even though I'm still actively keeping up and traveling the speed of the car ahead of me and often times people will try to go from behind me in my lane to the empty spot ahead of me that I'm making for others to merge into while traffic is moving or even stopped. If I fill that space so they can't Hopscotch around me they feel as if I have cut them off and this can cause dangerous situations.
This type of selfishness to this extreme seems to occupy the minds of the vast majority of people that drive cars.
I make videos on the subject and I get a lot more people telling me that I'm a jerk for letting someone merge than comments from people saying thanks for trying to be considerate and speed up everyone's driving.
A lot more negative comments my friends, so until you all start driving with a distance ahead of you that helps traffic merge ahead of YOU at merge places, all of this is irrelevant and no merging system is any better than any another because none of them will work if you don't try to help others merge. But pre-point merging or endpoint merging or zipper merging??? it doesn't matter,
if you people are actively trying to prevent merging no system will work. So just because it's a zipper merge and somebody thinks it's a pre merge when n merge don't do anything to prevent or not help that merge regardless cuz you're just going to hurt everybody down the line just help people merge.
Is nobody going to comment on this guy’s terrible outfit? The suspenders, ill-fitting button-down, black on black with a visible WHITE undershirt. I can’t trust this man.
I believe it would work great if people practiced the idea. It will never prevent congestion, that's not what they are saying despite idiotic people responses that the engineers are saying it will prevent back ups. That's just not possible. But it is a safer practice than people diving in any chance they get and then opening one lane up to speeding assholes trying to get to the front as fast as possible. So the zipper merge would be much safer and organized, in turn making it faster in the long run. Not zipper merging creates speeding and careless merging which Causes accidents and extreme backups. So the idiotic naysayers of the zipper merge idea should probably shut the hell up and let the smart people do the thinking for them.
Most Canadians can't even figure out what lane they're supposed to drive in, zipper merging is way too complicated.
100% And my biggest beef is watching an entire highway of traffic try to squeeze around some twit driving slowly in the middle lane despite being passed on both the right and the left. Those shitheads have no idea they are hated with the power of a million suns.
not just Canadians but the majority of selfish drivers the world over, except for Germany.