It's arguably an asshole move, even if legal. You really just gain the same time as the other people collectively lose between the off ramp and on ramp. In addition you cause additional traffic on the ramps, which might hold up other road users using these ramps normally.

I imagine the Nash-equilibrium of this pattern if more people does this is that there is blocked traffic on the highway between the ramps and also on the ramps.

Traffic flows better if played as a collective game, where the objective is to help the others get through it along with helping yourself.

This strategy, if followed by enough people, massively reduces traffic stress. It may also reduce travel time, but honestly the difference is likely just a few minutes each way.

Yes, I've driven in cities that play by the "we are in it together, let's work together to get us all out", and cities that play by "any advantage I can get regardless of the cost to others".

Problem is, once enough people start playing the selfish game, the equilibrium breaks and everyone has to go selfish.

that's how you kill a society. Kill the social contract, the care for your fellows, one form of interaction at a time.

My two cents: weaving through dense traffic is stressful and probably puts you at a higher risk of an accident than remaining in the same lane for an extra 5 minutes. I prefer to ignore those kind of shortcuts.

This seems like over-optimizing for time. For the individual there are trade offs in wear and tear, fuel consumption, stress, accident risk, and as a sibling comment indicates, a social component.

For traffic in general this increases the number of lane changes and merges, increasing risk and slowing traffic further. Depending on location it may benefit by using more of the road surface (and alleviate problems further back) or may cause problems off the freeway at the local exit either due to greater traffic at the intersection or the freeway queue backing up into surface streets. (Or both.)

It should also be noted that this is an illegal maneuver in some US states. I presume Waze doesn’t suggest it in those states.

My experience has been that map apps are overly reliant on average times when traversing city streets. A shortcut thought LA might save you 10 minutes if the traffic light gods are in your favor or might add 30 minutes if you hit a red light at every intersection.

There are two parallel roads between my home and office and google likes to tell me that they will take the same time. One goes though about 10 stoplights in busy retail areas, one goes though about 5 stoplights in quiet industrial areas.

On average both roads might get me there at the same time, but on a unlucky day the busier road may cost me 20 minutes. I always take the other path

It seems like it would mess up traffic more? I have heard that Waze sends drivers through residential areas as shortcuts, which, you know, kills kids.