I think there’s an assumption in the illustrations.
The merge point can be singular, but not at the very last moment. If the giant flashing light sign that is visible long before the cutoff was considered the merge point, all of the benefits of the premise still hold.
In addition, in the real world the unused lane space is a buffer zone to help the merge to happen without completely stopping, reducing overall traffic.
Where both concepts fall apart is with the “me first” people that use the space to get ahead and cut in, forcing everybody to hit brakes and creates more traffic as nobody is moving, prompting more “me first” to not want to wait and cut in at the end.
I think there’s an assumption in the illustrations.
The merge point can be singular, but not at the very last moment. If the giant flashing light sign that is visible long before the cutoff was considered the merge point, all of the benefits of the premise still hold.
In addition, in the real world the unused lane space is a buffer zone to help the merge to happen without completely stopping, reducing overall traffic.
Where both concepts fall apart is with the “me first” people that use the space to get ahead and cut in, forcing everybody to hit brakes and creates more traffic as nobody is moving, prompting more “me first” to not want to wait and cut in at the end.