The Zipper Merge

A common situation: On the highway, a lane is closed ahead. So everyone gets over into the lane that goes through, leaving a terrific jam in that lane, and the other completely empty. And if anyone should drive down he empty lane and merge when it ends, they earn the sincere hate of everyone waiting in the ridiculous line. This is called "early merge." I'm here today to preach the new gospel: the late merge, aka zipper merge, aka zipper method.

Per the late merge, drivers would use both lanes until right before the one ends, and then merge every other car into the continuing lane

Points for the late merge:
1. Length of road filled with traffic is cut in half. This helps prevent the jam from affecting intersections behind and multiplying into gridlock.
2. Merges occur at low speed, with plenty of time to prepare. Where the early merge requires one to merge at full highway speed and with no advance notice. The late merge is safer.
3. More robust against cheating. The early merge can be completely subverted by anyone who wants or who doesn't know or understand the convention, enraging everyone doing it correctly and potentially leading to road rage. The late merge can be cheated, if one refuses to allow the other lane to merge in when it's their turn, but in this case only one car is cheated, instead of all. This greatly reduces rage and requires no advance knowledge, simply drive where you can.
4. The above effects are multiplied when more than two lanes are to merge.
5. Jon Stewart, of the Daily Show, who said on that program to Drew Barrymore: "To me, the hallmark of civilization, and I believe this on its core foundational level, is the every-other-car merge..." Also at the Rally to Restore Sanity:

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Points against the late merge:
1. Most of the country doesn't do it that way now, and attempting to change will cause resistance. Item 3 for the late merge points out that know advance knowledge is required, but that is almost literally true. If the drivers have knowledge of the early merge they will be very upset when others do the late merge around them.
2. The early merge is preferable where the merge will not necessarily result in a jam. Ideally the early merge would be employed until a jam occurs, at which time traffic would switch to late merge.