Good question! I've always wondered about that.

As a follow up, does anyone know of a good way to calm your nerves/wreak horrible revenge when everyone starts merging as early as possible and then some git decides to go right to the merge point and jump ahead?

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http://pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca/~psyc382/rockgold.html
(Norman Rockwell's "Do Unto Others")

I don't know the heck que theory is, but I'll take a stab at it.

In a mechanical system, it would be better to use all three lanes as far as possible, merging seamlessly at the last instant.

In real life, that doesn't take into account the fact that people aren't ever going to merge seamlessly a the point of lane reduction. If everyone waits to merge until the lanes merge, you're going to be stuck with a snarl at that point.

I seem to recall a similar experiment playing out in WWII. Seems that the army decided that the accordion effect evidenced by convoys was unacceptably inefficient. They tried to implement a system in which every vehicle in a convoy would move ahead at the same instant, all following a common command. This would have saved time and fuel. There were a lot of fender benders.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

"Serenity now, serenity now"

actually...it is queueing theory...from
queue...

it's a theory based on probablities (generally something called markov processes) that desribe things like cars on a road network, calls arriving in a phone network, data exchange in a computer network etc.

it does not matter much. it depends on the parameter describing the arrival of cars (usually a law of poisson).
but then, provided you have enough cars, it will create a bottleneck...merging early will spread the bottle neck (won't be as bad, but will be on a longer length of road).
However, this assumes that all cars do this. it will spread the chaos...less chaos, but over a longer distance.
overall, those arriving after the bottleneck is created won't see a difference.

You're right -- que looked wrong. I studied queue theory in one stat class in business school. I was intrigued by the notion that there were theories to explain lines of things -- people, cars, data, manufacturing processes, etc.

I'm going to confess -- I'm the git. I may not drive all the way to the front, but usually pretty close.

I worked a bit in that area and still some days I am moody and will go all the way to the front... :-)

I knew it! It WAS you!!

<In the lowest whisper I can muster>
Actually I do it too, depending on how late I am. People are too polite and disorganised to shun me until my proper place in the queue arrives.

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http://pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca/~psyc382/rockgold.html
(Norman Rockwell's "Do Unto Others")

I'm the guy in the old silver land cruiser that won't let you over. Hi, nice to finally put a name with a finger.

Use of the third lane before the constraint (i.e., lane reduction), doesn't effect flow, but it does effect order.

There is an algorithm in operations called, "Min cut-max flow" algorithm. The min cut (i.e., two lane reduction) across the network dictates the max flow across the network, in this case, the stretch of highway between exits.

A similar situation occurs at the supermarket checkout. The checkout conveyor usually tapers from 18" to 12" near the cashier/scanner. The groceries bunch up as the cashier activates the conveyor. This is akin to the pile up that occurs with the lane reduction.

At the grocery store, if you used only 12" of unconstrained conveyor, your groceries would not pile up, the queue would be longer, but the time to process would be the same.

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iambigkahunatony.com

Sometimes, I'm the jerk in the third lane. But only when most of the traffic has already merged and some fools are still flying up at 40 MPH over the speed limit to pass 200 cars and get in the line right at the front.

On a different note, does this mean that the construction on the Lodge has started? I have COA argument downtown next Wednesday at 9:00 AM so this information would be useful.

No -- I think Lodge construction doesn't start until the 24th; it was supposed to start today, but was delayed.

You mean my finger, right? I'll make sure to wave it next time; a little debris on the shoulder and some orange barrels don't scare me:)