Unlocking Gridlock

It's already out there in the US my GPS does it for me tells me where high traffic is and what alternate roots I can take.

I think not, unless we're prepared to take driving out of the driver's hands, making each driver program a destination instead of driving to it. However, where traffic jams are concerned, it strikes me that projects like MODUM are barking up the wrong tree. I think avoidance of jams has limited utility, often simply overloading alternate arteries. In contrast, the idea of car-to-car mitigation of traffic jams seems practical and inviting. The dynamics of "rubberbanding" in a traffic jam suggest why.

In an ideal world, no car in a traffic jam would ever stop, it would simply slow to the merge speed permitted by the source of the jam. In real life, of course, this isn't what happens. Someone over-brakes at the head of the jam, probably from inattention, slowing the cars behind. Twenty cars back, someone else is inattentive and over-reacts again, with additive effect. The cars behind slow even further. By the time we reach the Nth over-reactor some miles back, he has over-reacted to a stop. Presto, we have a rubberband.

This might be a problem that wireless intercommunication can solve, provided most drivers would be willing to sacrifice control of their vehicle only in a jam. I know I would, if it would keep traffic moving. Suppose we could all press a "Jam Control" button and our cars would immediately communicate front and back, sharing each other's acceleration and braking capabilities, automatically assuming the minimum safe following distance, and eliminating over-braking and under-acceleration. Now, instead of a rubberband, we have a snake moving at the maximum safe speed. Add enough intelligence for a seamless merge at the head of the jam, and my guess is that the average "jammed" interstate could double its capacity and clear itself in half the time.

I'm not a systems or traffic designer, and of course I'm oversimplifying -- things like lane departure and non-participating vehicles would need to be handled gracefully, and some sort of ranging hardware front-and-rear would surely be required -- but I think the great majority of urban drivers would find it a godsend, even at a price.

What do y'all think?