Name: 塞車時插隊比較好！？交通科學的反直覺原理 (Why Traffic Scientists Want You to Cut People Off)
Uploaded: 2021-12-19T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 6 min 7 s

We've all been in this situation before: you're driving home from the hospital after a grievous injury where a fan threw bricks at you as a joke,

我們都曾經遇到過這種情況：你因為被一個粉絲「只是開個玩笑」所丟的磚頭砸中，於是受了嚴重的傷然後進了醫院，現在則在從醫院回來的路上，

情態副詞

and you see that because of construction of a new McBurger Wendy's, the right lane is about to end, and this two lane highway will be reduced to one measly lane.

你看到前面的路因為路邊正在興建麥當漢堡溫蒂王速食餐廳的關係，右線被封閉了，而這條雙線道高速公路現在只剩一條車道可走。

Well, being the morally upstanding, lawful good driver you are, you go ahead and merge into the left lane as soon as possible,

作為一個品德高尚，嚴守法律的優良駕駛，你於是往前繼續開並盡快靠左匯入左側車道，

and wait in line, listening to your own podcast Showmakers, available now on Nebula.

接著一邊排在大家後面，一邊聽著你自己在 Nebula 上架的 Podcast 節目「節目製造大師」。

But as you're waiting in your slow queue, thinking about what a great point you're making in the podcast,

但正當你等著緩慢的隊伍前進，心想著自己在 Podcast 上講得真好的同時，

you see that some punk-faced jerk with slicked back hair in a hot-red sports car doesn't merge over.

你看到了一個把頭髮全往後梳，開著火紅色跑車，一臉小混混樣子的混帳卻沒有匯入左側車道。

He keeps driving in the right lane, and then right before the convergence point, merges left, cutting in front of you and everyone else.

他繼續行駛在右側車道上，然後就在兩個車道即將匯流的地方，直接插隊到你和其他人的前面。

What if I told you that "jerk" in the right lane...was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

如果我告訴你那個在右側車道的「渾蛋」... 其實是小馬丁·路德·金恩博士呢？

Bet you're regretting calling him a jerk now, huh?

現在你後悔叫他是渾蛋了吧，嗯？

And what if I also told you that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn't cut in line: he did exactly what traffic experts say you're supposed to do.

而要是我告訴你，其實小馬丁·路德·金恩博士並沒有插隊：他不過是做了交通專家說你該做的事而已罷了呢？

It turns out, merging early is actually bad for traffic.

其實，提早匯流對交通來說並不是好事。

It's sort of like talking to your grandparents about politics—it may seem like the right thing to do, but in the end, everyone just ends up angrier, and you get cut out of pop pop's will.

這有點像是和祖父母談論政治一樣：聽起來正確，但結果只會讓每個人都更加憤怒，而且還會害你被從爺爺的遺囑中除名。

The reason is pretty simple: in dense traffic, if everyone merges early, they make the open lane unnecessarily clogged, while a long section of perfectly good road sits unused.

而背後的原因其實相當單純：在擁擠的交通環境下，要是每個人都提早匯流，便會使開放的車道變得不必要地擁擠，而其實旁邊還有一大塊可供使用卻乏人問津的路段。

Instead, traffic experts recommend something called the zipper merge: cars drive in both lanes up until the merge point, and then take turns going through it, closing like the teeth of a zipper.

相對的，交通專家建議用路人進行「拉鍊式匯流」：兩個車道都可以行使，直到匯流點再輪流通過，就像是一排拉鍊一樣。

Some experts say that adopting the zipper merge could actually reduce traffic by 40%, while other experts say that dolphins can swim up to 30 miles per hour.

部分專家表示拉鍊式匯流能降低 40% 交通擁擠度，而其他專家則表示海豚的游泳極速最快可以達到每小時 30 英哩。

That second set of experts were dolphin experts.

One real-world example of the problems a zipper merge could solve can be seen in Fort Collins, Colorado, at the intersection of Southbound Lemay Avenue and East Horsetooth Road,

而在真實世界中採用拉鍊是匯流來解決交通問題案例的其中之一，就是在美國科羅拉多州的科林斯堡，南向里梅大道與東馬齒路的交界路口，

right next to the Warren Tennis Courts, Warren Lake, and the offices of an Allstate insurance agent named Jennifer Harms.

就位於瓦倫網球場、瓦倫湖，以及一位名叫 Jennifer Harms 的 Allstate 保險業務員辦公室旁邊。

There are two left turn lanes on Lemay, but here's the thing: most people plan to only be on Horsetooth for a hot second, before they make a quick right turn back onto Lemay right here.

里梅大道上有兩個左轉道，但是實際上大多數的人只打算在馬齒路上停留一下，接著便會快速右轉回到里梅大道上。

And because of that, all the cars tend to stack up on the inner turn lane, so then they'll be in the right lane once they turn, and thus can easily make their right turn back onto Lemay.

因為這點，所有車都匯幾在內側的左轉道上，如此一來當他們轉彎到馬齒路上後就能直接銜接右側的車道，然後輕鬆地向右轉並回到里梅大道上。

Basically, the number of cars who use the far left turn lane on South Lemay is the same as the number of cars I've been hit by: one blue Acura.

基本上，用上南里梅大道的另一條左轉道的車就和曾經撞過我的車一樣：只有一台藍色的 Acura 汽車。

And here's the problem: because there's always a really long line of cars in the inner turn lane, it takes longer for them all to pass through the light,

而這造成了一個麻煩：因為內側左轉道總是排著長長的隊伍，使得他們得花上更多時間通過紅綠燈街口，

which means the traffic lights have to be programmed to stay green longer to clear them all out,

代表綠燈的時間也得跟著設計得更長才能讓交通暢通，

which means everyone at this intersection ultimately waits for longer.

也就代表所有經過這個路口的人都得等上更長的時間。

If drivers would instead evenly split themselves in the two turn lanes, and then zipper merge into the right lane on Horsetooth, everyone would be better off.

如果駕駛們能夠在兩個左轉道自行分流，並且以拉鍊式匯流的方式進入馬齒路上的右側車道，每個人都能受益。

And that's why the Colorado Department of Transportation has endorsed the zipper merge,

這就是為什麼科羅拉多州交通部中意拉鍊式匯流的原因，

even putting an entire page on their website urging drivers to adopt it, including a video featuring the mean chef from Orange is the New Black and a child breaking labor laws.

他們甚至在網站上花了一整頁篇幅呼籲駕駛人採用這個方法，上面包含了一支由《勁爆女子監獄》裡的壞主廚，還有一名違反勞動法的小孩主演的影片。

In 2011, Minnesota's Department of Transportation ran an entire campaign urging drivers to adopt the zipper merge, including billboards, PSAs, YouTube videos,

在 2011 年時，明尼蘇達州交通部進行了一次大型宣傳計畫來呼籲駕駛人採用拉鍊式匯流法，手段包含了告示牌、公共廣告、YouTube 影片，

and even buying the domain name dothezippermerge.org, although they've since abandoned it and it might have a new owner now whose name is definitely not me.

他們甚至還買下了 dothezippermerge.org (用拉鍊式匯流法.org) 這個網域，不過他們之後就沒再繼續使用了，而該網域現在換了一個絕對不是我的新主人。

In 2019, North Carolina even introduced a series of speed sensors and big light-up signs that would sense when there was upcoming congestion at a merge,

在 2019 年，北卡羅萊納州甚至採用了一連串的車速偵測器以及閃亮亮的告示牌，用來在感應到前面的匯流點有塞車情況時，

and urge drivers to "USE BOTH LANES TO MERGE POINT, Y'ALL."

呼籲駕駛人們「鄉親們啊，到匯流點之前兩條車道都能開啦。」

In Germany, the zipper merge has been common practice for years, and they even have a long, confusing German word to prove it: Reisverschlussverfahren.

在德國，拉鍊式匯流早已是多年來的標準做法，他們甚至還為此創了一個又長又讓人困惑的德文單字：Reisverschlussverfahren。

But not all states have endorsed the zipper merge.

但並不是所有州都贊成拉鍊式匯流這種做法。

And that's because, like airport security, communism, and this joke about communism, while it works great in theory, it doesn't always work great in practice.

這是因為就如同機場安檢、共產主義，還有這個關於共產主義的玩笑一樣，雖然理論上聽起來都很美好，實際運行起來卻並不總是能順利進行。

And that's because theory fails to take into account the human aspect of driving—specifically, our capacity for spite.

這是因為理論沒有把開車這個行為的人類特質考慮進去－特別是我們對怨恨的忍受度。

You see, the zipper merge can sometimes fail when so-called "traffic vigilantes" see someone trying to do a late merge, and refuse to let them in,

拉鍊式匯流有時容易失敗的原因在於，一些自封「交通界私法制裁者」的人一看有人比較晚才匯入車道便會阻擋他們，

believing that the late merger is trying to cheat or cut the line, and that by refusing them entry, they're doling out pure, cold, traffic justice,

認為這些較晚匯入車到的人是想佔便宜或是插隊，而阻止他們進入隊伍完全是出於純粹且硬頸的交通正義，

instead of what they're actually doing, which is creating even more congestion and risk of crashes.

而實際上他們正在做的反而讓交通更加壅塞，並提高車禍發生的機會。

The good news is, if humans don't manage to figure it out soon, computers probably will,

好消息是，如果人類仍搞不懂這個道理，再過不久電腦或許便能取而代之，

at least if self-driving cars ever manage to be rolled out in the widespread way that experts have spent ten years saying is coming in the next ten years.

如果自動駕駛車輛真的能如專家們在過去十年間不斷說著「十年後就會普及了！」的那樣廣泛普及的話。

The most efficient way to reduce traffic is for all cars to drive at a constant speed at a fixed distance from the car in front of them,

降低交通壅塞的最有效率方式就是所有的車輛都與前車保持著同樣的距離，並以同樣的速度行駛，

which falls pretty high on the list of things that humans are bad at, but computers are great at.

而這件事在「人類不太行但是電腦很擅長的事情」清單中名列前茅。

Until then, though, now that you've watched this video, you can start merging at the last minute,

直到那時為止，既然你現在已經看過這個影片了，你可以開始在最後一刻再匯入車道了。

and when people honk or yell at you, you can bask in the glory of knowing that a YouTube video told you that you're right and they're wrong.

如果有人對你按喇叭或是怒罵，你可以挺起胸膛，心裡知道有個 YouTube 影片跟你說過你這麼做是對的，他們才是錯的。

Now let's say, fresh off of finishing this video, you start a guerrilla marketing/intimidation campaign getting people to use the zipper merge on your daily commute.

假設你在看完這部影片之後，開始想進行一個讓人們開始在你平常通勤路上採用拉鍊式匯流的游擊式行銷/恐嚇推廣計畫。

這麼一來你便需要一些特定的技能。

For example, assuming you don't want your banner to look like this, you'd want to learn some graphic design skills,

例如，假如你不想最後標語長成這樣的話，你可能得學會一些圖像設計技巧，

and, of course, the best way to learn graphic design is from a graphic designer.

而理所當然的，學習圖像設計的最好方式便是直接向圖像設計師請教。

這就是 Skillshare 背後的運作哲學。

They have thousands of quality classes from the practitioners of different skills, teaching them to you.

他們有著上千個由擁有不同技能的講師所主持的高品質課程，直接教你這些技能。

For example, in just 36 minutes, you can learn the core principles of graphic design from the co-directors of the Graphic Design MFA Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

例如在短短 36 分鐘內，你就能從馬里蘭藝術學園圖像設計藝術創作碩士班的聯合指導教授身上，學會圖像設計的核心概念。

Skillshare is designed for creative and curious people, like myself, I think, so when I need to learn a new skill, that's exactly where I go.

Skillshare 專為具有創意且好奇心旺盛的人所設計，我自己就是這種人，至少我是這麼想啦。所以當我需要學會新技能時，我就會去上面學習。

Whether you want to learn illustration, music production, video editing, nonfiction writing, or one of so many other skills, Skillshare almost certainly has a class on it,

不論你是想學習插畫、音樂製作、影片編輯、紀實寫作或是任何的技能，Skillshare 上幾乎肯定有相對應的課程，

and you can start learning new skills right now for free for a full month by clicking this button, or heading to the link in the description.

而現在只要點擊這個按鈕或是前往影片詳情中的連結，你便能開始免費學習新技能整整一個月。

It's free for a full month, so at worst you won't lose out on anything, but at best you'll have bettered yourself with new skills, and helped HAI.

這一整個月的費用都是免費的，所以最差的狀況下你什麼也不會失去，而最好的狀況下你不但能學習到新的技能來強化自己，更能幫助本頻道。

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塞車時插隊比較好！？交通科學的反直覺原理 (Why Traffic Scientists Want You to Cut People Off)

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