Why merging late on the highway makes sense…sometimes

Talking Michigan Transportation · Jun 22, 2023 · 19m

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a topic that provokes strong feelings among everyone who drives: when to merge when a freeway lane is closed for construction.

Tom Vanderbilt explained in his 2008 book, Traffic, there are two schools of thought:

The first camp - let us name it after the bumper sticker that says practice random acts of kindness - viewed early mergers as virtuous souls doing the right thing and late mergers as arrogant louts. "Unfortunately, people suck," wrote one Random Acts poster. "They'll try whatever they can to pass you, to better…