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Grouping vehicles into platoons is one proposed method to increase capacity without building additional traffic lanes.
Platoons decrease the distances between cars using electronic, and possibly mechanical, coupling. This capability would allow many cars to accelerate or brake simultaneously. Instead of waiting after a light changes to green for drivers ahead to react, a synchronized platoon would move as one, allowing up to a fivefold increase in traffic throughput. This system also allows for a closer distance between vehicles by eliminating reacting distance needed for human reaction.
Platoon capability might require buying new cars, or it may be something that can be retrofitted. Drivers would probably need a special license endorsement on account of the new skills required and the added responsibility when driving in the lead.
Smart cars with artificial intelligence could automatically join and leave platoons. The automated highway system is a proposal for one such system, where cars organise themselves into platoons of eight to twenty-five.
Potential benefits
- Greater efficiency due to reduced air resistance.
- Reduced congestion
- Substantially shorter commutes during peak periods.
- On longer highway trips, vehicles could be mostly unattended whilst in following mode.
Potential downsides
- Drivers would feel less in control of their own destiny - they are at the hands of computer software, or the lead driver