Selfish driving causes everyone to pay the Price of Anarchy

[Admin]

Good article although somewhat technical. Maybe the road planners here should read it.

 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080...of-anarchy.html

[Apollo]

i already known this.

 

in fact i'm taking the longer route home everyday and i actually reach hm faster becos i did not get saturated inside the gridlock.

 

but a matter of time when they up the gantry there... cannot say where.

[Roborovskii]

Disagree with the article somewhat as it does not take into account recurrence (or the demand and supply nature). If the people going from point A to point B travel on a daily basis, they would naturally start to disperse using various different routes (such as Apollo who chose to take a longer but quicker route).

 

If you drive home on a daily basis and you know the shortest route is prone to jams, you would likely choose the longer but faster route at least most of the time. This mentality leads to having less people trying to squeeze through a particular road thus easing up the traffic somewhat. The POA (Price of Anarchy) theory thus holds true only to a certain limit, thereafter once this 'cap' or 'ceiling' (which is the tolerance of road users to jams) is hit, POA does not readily apply.

 

I am speaking from travelling within the Singapore road context, as our island is quite small with multiple choice of paths, maybe I could be a little short-sighted as compared to those commuting abroad. However it is fair to say that the article, research or theory (POA) has left out the important aspect within the order of nature. It needs to take into account the Chaos Theory too

[Rickster]

Good perspective!

[Apollo]

not true tat there is multiple choice. multiple choice only apply when the system has relief. eg u happily driving down CTE to hit the AYE. when u r at Radin Mas Flyover, u see a jam built up, LL liaoz, want to turn out also cannot. reverse also cannot. die die stuck in the jam until at least normantan park.

 

the problem with most bad design fr LTA is keep adding on connectors, widening them (eg AMK Ave 1) to the expressway to bring in more traffic and not having enuff output so tat the flooding can be mitigated.

 

also i hv to agree with one radio talkshow. it may be hightime for lta to ban motorcycle fr the expressway (bring on the flames). in large cities like beijing and shanghai, they even extend the ban on smaller cc cars. and like the speaker was saying, motorcycles r generally banned fr expressway in most countries, why make the exception. (bring on the flames).

[Roborovskii]

I'm talking about recurrence not a single instance. Daily commuting from point A to B. People tend to disperse over varying routes due to their personal threshold of tolerance to traffic congestion. This theory does not take that into account.

[Wbucket]

Don't understand, motorcycles don't cause the jams, why ban them? Similarly said, don't small cc cars have as much right to use the road as everyone else?

[Genie47]

BKE has the most "fatal accident" signs for motorcyclists. Always appealing for witnesses. I'm numb already. Every week got a new one up.

[Genie47]

Maybe it is the speed. Elsewhere, the motorway speeds are a lot higher than what we have in puny Singapore.

[Blue2]

Someone need to clear the bottle neck....

or wat I would call a funnel effect....

[Wbucket]

Speed? My small cc can drive at most speed limits I have seen so far. And big CC cars don't always drive fast ma.

[Genie47]

Dunno. Could be suvivability factors as well. Size matters. Motorcycle = small = not very survivable.

 

K-class car = small also with a little armor = survivable slightly higher.

 

M1A2 Abrams = 100% survivable save for meeting opposing M1A2 = got money also cannot buy and use for commuting.

[Leepee]

I disagree with the banning of motorcycles in Singapore context.

 

1)Singapore road are not super highway with high speed limit. Our speed limit is 80-90km/hr. Very idea for even small bikes to maintain to the speed and keep with the flow of traffic.

 

2)Many morning and evening traffic are single driver in a car cases. So if one can replace a single(one person) car road space with two bikes(two pserson) space into same space. Theoretically you are Halving the traficc density! This will definately make the road less jam.

 

3)Motorcyle can filter more easily/quickly from lanes to lanes, without causing the rear vehicle to slow down significantly. It was observed that artificial jamms are created at all exit lanes on the expressway due to cars filtering from lane1 to lane3 at the very last minute. Bikes can do the same stunt without causing much slowdown in rear vehicles.

 

4)Gov should remove the motorcycle COE. Its TOTOALLY not necessary, becauses Motorcycles DON't create traffic jams(except accident case). Without the Bike COE (now at a rediculous $1300+), more people will buy bikes and drive to work or for short trips to the markets! I also recommend that the motorcycle ERP be scrapped as well. If I may be bias, I see MORE malaysian bikes on the road than local licence plated bikes in the morning/evening peak period.

 

5) Bikes can accelerate faster and clear traffic lights faster. I realised with the high fuel cost, traffic lights traffic are more slow lately.

 

6) With motorcycle most selfish road hogging act will ALL disappear, because no motorcyclist will be stupid enough to try emergency brake on the road to teach taxi a lesson, or to swerve in front of a car lane to show who is boss right? And if the motorcycle were to play punk by riding slowly blocking rear vehicles, any vehicles can always 'slowly' FORCE into the bike lane to cause a change in the motorcyclist thick skull.

 

Motorcycle is definately a viable way to help reduce Singapore traffic jam conditions!

[Watwheels]

I think it would be more practical to ban heavy vehicles, small cc cars and motorbikes during peak hours.

[Wbucket]

Still got nothing to do with traffic jams leh...

[Wbucket]

Why? Effect of banning small cars is same as banning big cars. My car at sub 1000cc, carries passengers more frequently than most friends I know who drive bigger cc cars. And same thing, why motorbikes? Heavy vehicles...it is their lifeline lo, they are more rights to be on the road than those who can simply take public transports.

[Genie47]

As mentioned by Leepee, it is the flow of traffic when it comes to speed. The motorcycles here can keep up with the cars most of the time. Then again, what usually kills them is also the fact that they can keep up with the cars.

[Roborovskii]

Agree with the points you have mentioned.

 

The reason they ban motorcycles and small CC cars in some countries are because of safety and speed issues. Highways in other countries have very much higher speed limits and in some cases less lanes (1-2 lane each direction). They are thus more susceptible to blockage caused by slower traffic or accidents. Motorcycles travelling in such conditions (especially at night) are at risk of getting hit by vehicles that may travel in access of speeds 140kmh or more (harder to spot). Smaller CC cars may not be able to adapt to these highspeeds and cause slow downs on these highways. In Singapore however the highest speed limit is 90kmh and espressways are mostly at least 3 lane wide. This ban would thus not be logical for our tiny island.

Edited September 5, 2008 by Roborovskii