Alternate / zipper merge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get it op. No one alternates. I really hate those signs though. Its like the state is counting on everyone to be polite. It would be better to have one lane merge in to the other.

That's what the signs used to say and sometimes still do. It doesn't work very well which is why they changed them, but people still do it the least efficient way possible.

The alternate works better than the one lane ending? At least with one lane ending you know who has the right of way and it works like a highway. They would be better off having a red light that makes one car go at a time. Alternate merge is good on principle but not in practice.

No different than maryland drivers and circles. Drivers don't get them, they don't reduce accidents and in some places car speed doesn't reduce at the circle either.

When the lane ends shortly after a stoplight, it most certainly is more efficient to fill in the lanes, especially with congestion. The idea is to get as many cars through the stoplight as possible, otherwise the backup at the stoplight will be longer and the accordion effect is greater (twice as long when one lane is fully empty). The other thing is having every driver in the left straight lane will delay any drivers who want to get in a left turn late at the light. Plus if there is another stoplight prior to this one, cars can get backed up into that stoplight as well.....all because people leave an entire lane empty for 1/2 a mile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that you’re seeing the open line is because the merge line wasn’t that long before you got there. If the merge line is short, you just get in at the open spot even if it’s a 100ft before the merge.

I’m all about the zipper merge as long as you’re not a jerk about it. There is always that one driver that will pass the obviously open spot to pass a handful of cars just to get a little ahead. Don’t be that guy.

OP here. Most people will complain about the car that rides the empty lane to the front of the line. I say if everyone filled in all empty lanes, there would be no advantage to picking any particular lane and.worse case acting like a jerk gets you 1 at most 2 spots ahead.

If you drive until the end of the merge lane, you run the risk of crashing when the other cars don't let you in. Chances are very high that you won't be allowed in by the other cars.

If traffic is moving fast, what should happen is every car leaves enough space that you can merge in. If a car looks to not be cooperating, then you drop back to the next spot. It shouldn't be a last minute determination if you will get in or not

We're talking about the DC area. When is traffic ever moving fast?

[Anonymous]

We must drive on different routes. I went through several zipper merges today - they all went smoothly and the way that OP desires.

One was on GWP, one on 395 in DC, another at a road paving project in Alexandria.