(cont'd from yesterday's post)
Japanese physicists set up an experiment in 2008 to study traffic. Even with every driver trying to drive a consistent speed, "jamitons" occurred - waves of slowing traffic, though there is no obstacle. Watch the pattern:
Recently researchers re-created the experiment . . but with one difference. An autonomous car was included. After jamitons started forming, the self-driving feature was activated on the one autonomous car, and it changed the pattern:
"What this means in reality is that the presence of just one autonomous car can reduce congestion for all drivers . . "
Practical improvements? According to researchers' calculations, reducing excessive braking will result in a 40% reduction in fuel consumption, and the throughput of the road goes up by about 14%.
(cont'd tomorrow)
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