The Zipper Merge

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by troutman

The government should run TV spots every six months reminding drivers this is the preferred approach, until it becomes ingrained.

"Because its the right thing to do"

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by ken0042

There are really two "issues" with the zipper merge. I hesitate to use the word "issues", as they are a fault of people, not the process.

- Everybody needs to be doing the same merge. Doesn't matter if it's zipper or the "get over as time permits", the problem is if not everybody is on the same page. The zipper is the better of the two as far as that is concerned.

- If you are already in the lane that continues, you should not change lanes into the lane that ends. Sometimes this is marked with lane markings, however that isn't always possible if the lane exits as well as ends.

The zipper merge is also specific to bottlenecks when traffic has slowed. If traffic is chugging along at the speed limit and someone has a space of 10 car lengths to merge, it's better to just get in and keep traffic flowing than speeding up to get in front of that person 11 car lengths ahead just because that is technically where the merge lane ends. That 10 car gap will quickly disappear if that person has to brake for you.

If you are ever on a freeway and suddenly traffic stops or slows down for a few minutes for seemingly no reason, it is usually because someone causes the person behind them to brake.

https://phys.org/news/2007-12-traffi...maticians.html

It's all about reading traffic. If traffic is crawling, then zipper merge is the best and if someone in the main lane isn't letting the mergers zipper in, they are being a ######. But if traffic is flowing and you have all the time in space in the world to get in to the one lane you need to be in, but still insist on getting to the very front, then you are being the ######.

You have to read traffic and react accordingly.

[mrkajz44]

Yeah, most of the people "questioning" the zipper merge are using examples of lanes that are not actually merge lanes. All three examples in this thread that people are talking about is what to do when you are in / want to get in to an exit lane that used to be part of regular traffic. These are not merges, they are exit lanes.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

The government should run TV spots every six months reminding drivers this is the preferred approach, until it becomes ingrained.

They used to have signs up on major roads showing proper merging.

The biggest problem with merges is that the people in the lane being merged into feel they can just keep driving as normal. But if you have three lanes, and the right lane ends, it isn't just a matter of the right and the middle lanes merging together. By law, all three lanes are merging into two. That means drivers in the middle lane have to move over into the lane to their left to make space for cars merging from the right. But almost no Calgary drivers do that.

[Fuzz]

This is the weirdest one I've encountered, and that's probably because it is in Edmonton, so it is No Good.
https://goo.gl/maps/LpS1YetG9WK2
The inner merge lane disappears, so if you get a ###### in the lane to your left, you just run out of road. I've never seen this before, usually the right lane ends so you at least have a shoulder to bail out on.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The zipper merge is also specific to bottlenecks when traffic has slowed. If traffic is chugging along at the speed limit and someone has a space of 10 car lengths to merge, it's better to just get in and keep traffic flowing than speeding up to get in front of that person 11 car lengths ahead just because that is technically where the merge lane ends. That 10 car gap will quickly disappear if that person has to brake for you.

If you are ever on a freeway and suddenly traffic stops or slows down for a few minutes for seemingly no reason, it is usually because someone causes the person behind them to brake.

https://phys.org/news/2007-12-traffi...maticians.html

It's all about reading traffic. If traffic is crawling, then zipper merge is the best and if someone in the main lane isn't letting the mergers zipper in, they are being a ######. But if traffic is flowing and you have all the time in space in the world to get in to the one lane you need to be in, but still insist on getting to the very front, then you are being the ######.

You have to read traffic and react accordingly.

What's missing from your post though (in my opinion) is that it's not just on the merging vehicle's driver to "read traffic" correctly.

Don't get me wrong, in your example, I merge into that gap 99% of the time. But technically what should happen is the following:

In your example let's say that their are 10 cars lined up in the lane being merged into (the length of the merging lane - car 1 is the car at then end of the merge lane, car 10 is a the begining). If the 10 foot gap you mention is say between cars 5 and 6 (so the middle of the merge lane), as you say what most people do (myself included) pull into that gap. But really the merging car should still use the full merge lane, and all cars along side the merge lane "should" be aware that a car is wanting to merge. As the merging car nears the end of the merge lane, Car #2 should be making a decision, so I speed up to make room for the merging car behind me, or do I slow down and make room for the car in front of me. In your example, Car #2 has no where to go in front, so they need to slow down and make room (shouldn't need to hit breaks hard if they are aware from the get go of the possibility of merging traffic) and that 10 foot gap you mentioned should just vanish and become a 10 foot gap between car 1 and 2 for the merging car to move into.

I actually think the above is the issue when traffic is backed up. People expect you to take the gap that's there, but what actually needs to happen is use the full lane to keep traffic moving best and the gaps need to just shift to the end of the merge lane.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Regorium

What if the merge situation is actually an exit lane or a through lane?

For example, on eastbound memorial drive, there is only one lane that exits on to deerfoot northbound. However, many people will use the through lane next to it, and merge after the traffic light.

https://goo.gl/maps/QxJPEqv1d6w


I think this is a dick move, but it is likely the most efficient way to get throughput on to deerfoot.

Other similar situations I can think of are crowchild southbound before the river, where an exit lane to memorial westbound is used as a merge lane.

That is a dick move because you are interfering with the through lane. A zipper merge is specifically when a lane ends.

I'd like to see the city put up signs at places like SB Crowchild approaching Glenmore that tells people coming off Mount Royal Gate/50th Avenue to merge at the end of the lane. Everyone does it wrong because everyone does it wrong. That means education is required.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

This is the weirdest one I've encountered, and that's probably because it is in Edmonton, so it is No Good.
https://goo.gl/maps/LpS1YetG9WK2
The inner merge lane disappears, so if you get a ###### in the lane to your left, you just run out of road. I've never seen this before, usually the right lane ends so you at least have a shoulder to bail out on.

This exact thing happens when you come over the bridge on 5th ave and go to merge onto Memorial Eastbound.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Weitz

This exact thing happens when you come over the bridge on 5th ave and go to merge onto Memorial Eastbound.

here?
https://goo.gl/maps/a2Su4wn2Q822
The right lane ends, not the middle one.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

here?
https://goo.gl/maps/a2Su4wn2Q822
The right lane ends, not the middle one.

Weird. Must be in my mind because I always move over right away when in the left lane cause I thought it ended haha.

[GGG]

In modern merge lanes they are painted to have long solid line sections for you to pick your spot then a shorter dashed portion where the merge actually occurs.

Now on the collector lanes this doesn't work as the entrance lane becomes the exit lanes but newer interchanges will still extend the solid line distance further to allow people to align on the gap.

[activeStick]

Sorry, when I got my BMW, I signed very clear papers where I agreed that I would never zipper merge when driving my vehicle.

[chubeyr1]

Drives me insane everyday on Deerfoot. If I am in the right hand lane and people are coming from a merge lane I allow them to merge. Yet they dont. Now I think to myself they will be turning off Deerfoot shortly, wrong. They wait till the last possible second then merge when its not safe to do so causing all traffic to brake. Or an accident.

Dont get me wrong, I am not always in that right hand lane where people are merging too. Yet eventually I am cause I do need to turn off shortly. I am not even talking about people trying to speed up and pass the traffic ahead of them. They need to merge into traffic and it is completely safe to do so, but they wait till its not. Been absolutely safe for the past 30 seconds but now when its unsafe now you want to merge?

Signs will not help this, unless we start seeing signs on the road that say " You still want to merge, too late idiot "! Followed by the sign " Did you really just risk peoples lives cause you suck as a driver ", Followed by the police pulling that person over for an unsafe lane change!

Till that happens I support Donald Trump!

Added that last part cause it makes no sense. Nor do many of the drivers in the city!

[FireGilbert]

Good thread. There is horrible traffic spot on my drive home from work where two lanes merge into one and then you merge onto a crazy busy highway. When treated as a zipper merge things go somewhat smoothly however as soon as someone tries to merge in too soon it causes a complete cluster fata.

[Drummer]

Last year when they were redoing the Ivor Strong bridge on Deerfoot they tried a zipper merge. Had signage everywhere indicating it including a big "MERGE NOW" sign. It didn't work very well and ended up getting removed.

[taffeyb]

Two summers ago, leaving Banff, I was stuck in a traffic line up for 45 minutes. There were construction signs advising drivers that the right lane was closed ahead. As typical, drivers merged into the left hand lane asap. I got a bit impatient and moved over to the right hand lane after 45 minutes. Trying to be only a 1/2 jerk, I was only doing 50 km/h while passing multitudes of cars. A km later, we got to the "construction", there was nothing there. Evidently, they didn't bother to cover up the warning signs when they were finished for the day. If people used the "zipper" philosophy (me included earlier), the traffic would have been fine.

I tend to zipper southbound Deerfoot on the merge from Deerfoot Meadows. I'm in that area 2-3 times a week. I don't speed down the right lane at 100 km/h -- like above, I'm moving at 50 ish km/h. Primarily for safety as, far too often, I see people pull into the right lane from almost a standstill. I'm "allowed" to merge almost immediately almost all the time. The key is not being the jerk in a BMW racing down at 120 km/h. Also, a BIG friendly wave to the individual who let me in.

Before anyone comments about me moving at 50 km/h, very very rarely are there any cars behind me as they are at a standstill trying to merge left asap.

[SeeBass]

A simple way to bring awareness.

When the big temporary sign says "lane ends merge right"

sign should say"lane ends merge right at cones"

[mrkajz44]

I wonder if the better solution would be to just have cones / pylons and that is it. No sign saying the lane is ending, no big flashing arrows saying you need to get over. Would that let people drive up the lane like normal, then realize the lane ends, and the end result is a zipper merge at the correct location?

[4X4]

I love how the people that take the inside lane on a dual turn act like I'm cheating or budding by taking the outside lane and then merging once we're through the light. For reference, one place this always happens is WB Anderson to SB Mcleod. It's a dual left turn, and the outer lane (right lane) merges in to the left lane as you go down the ramp, and then it merges with Mcleod. Everyone piles up in the left lane at the red light, and I mosey up on the right lane. Light turns green, and all the people in the left lane just gun it and tailgate each other to box me out, because I had the nerve to make use of the extra lane that's designed to get more traffic through per light.

Don't worry about me, though. I have a way of forcing myself in. My signal light is not me asking your permission to enter the lane, it's me telling you that I'm entering the lane. And I can handle seeing you flip me off in my rearview. Doesn't hurt my feelings that you're a crappy, insecure tool of a driver.


https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.95020...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[lazypucker]

No one actually said anything about the bad sound sync job on the video that makes the Sportsnet Flames broadcast looks first class?