So should I leave space on the highway so my lowest speed through the occasional slowdown is higher than average or am I hurting the traffic flow?
I recall reading about (highway) traffic being a queuing problem where the arrival rate exceeded the clearance rate due to a transient action (someone tapping their brakes because they were distracted or a bright glint from a glass truck going the other way). If you decrease the arrival rate slightly such that the clearance rate can remove the stopped/slowed cars then the entire traffic flow will return to the norm for the volume of traffic on the road.
I recall reading about (highway) traffic being a queuing problem where the arrival rate exceeded the clearance rate due to a transient action (someone tapping their brakes because they were distracted or a bright glint from a glass truck going the other way). If you decrease the arrival rate slightly such that the clearance rate can remove the stopped/slowed cars then the entire traffic flow will return to the norm for the volume of traffic on the road.
Sound? Valid?