3 ms·

Can we move toward electronic roads on the cheap?

• colonelxc 16y ago
  I'm not a big fan of the traffic light wifi idea. For starters, I think people trying to time the lights just right trying to hit a changing light at 35mph are crazy and are just asking to be hit by someone trying to beat a red. Moreover, in places where the lights are influenced by the cars around, I think it's usually pretty easy to tell if a light is going to change soon. But, I do think we will start seeing a lot more tech in the automotive future. I think it's the newest prius that has an auto-sensing cruise control, to adjust the speed to the car in front of you. I've been wanting that for years. Also, I think it's the first step in integrating autonomous drivers on the road. I've also heard about work on a "train" like vehicle that other cars could attach to and be dragged along. Idea is that it'd be more efficient, plus the drivers would get to relax on their commute. Like you mentioned about communicating where potholes are, I think all cars should be alerted to emergency personnel on the side of the road well before they reach them. I think maybe some radar detectors do something like this, maybe as a side effect. Something built into GPS would be awesome though.
• noss 16y ago
  Related: Why are we not installing an over-head electric rail at freeways that tall trucks and buses could use? I understand that at high speeds the kind of system used by Trolley-buses the poles would constantly fall off or the wire themselves would wear and tear. But what if one had sturdy beams instead of wires that could guide the trolley-poles, and indirectly the driver to stay in-lane. More like a third-rail, that is 4-5m above the road. These trucks and buses could then have a weaker combustion engine to use off electricity, but perform the majority of the trip, on the freeway, on electricity. I understand that not all countries have a near mix of 50% hydro and 50% nuclear electric power to make this decrease pollution.
  • stretchwithme 16y ago
    or how about one that work using magnetism that doesn't require constant contact? Or perhaps buses could have a robotic system to find the wire and a battery for when they cant't.
• LeBlanc 16y ago
  You don't need to send the data to cars for wi-fi equipped traffic lights to be useful. I can imagine hooking up a traffic light with both a wi-fi device and cameras to measure traffic flow. Traffic light A could communicate with traffic light B to let each one know how much traffic was on the way to the other light, so that it could adjust its programming. If you did this on a large scale, I would expect it to reduce traffic by a lot. Of course, I don't know if the reduction in traffic would be greater than the cost of equipping all traffic lights with wi-fi devices and cameras.
  • stretchwithme 16y ago
    It would be useful for lights to communicate with each other. But if you can measure traffic flow passing through one intersection, can't you measure traffic approaching another? It seems that the way to start implementing would be to improve nodes first. Connecting them seems a bigger, more political job.
• jmcentire 16y ago
  People adjust very quickly and easily. Much of the inefficiency the commenters on this thread observe are either the result of intent or indifference. We've had the technology for years to make for "better" traffic flow. Studies have been done which demonstrate local maxima which aren't adopted by municipalities. The main barriers are archaic ideas based on felt truths and the profit motive. Many city planners believe that stopping traffic frequently makes the city safer. This isn't true, of course. But, it seems true and it's easy to believe. If a city timed major traffic ways properly, it's been shown that accidents are reduced. But, facts are so inconvenient. Rather, lights are timed poorly which causes greater pollution and tension. The drivers, seeking a more optimal path, start taking side roads and neighbors complain. So, the city, rather than improving the efficiency of their roads, make the neighborhood streets less attractive by adding stop signs and speed bumps. The other factor is the profit motive. Frustrated drivers who have limited options for side streets become increasingly likely to slip through changing lights or speed between signals. The result is, of course, greater revenue for the city. You'll note, this is also a completely unsafe situation. Ideally, our municipalities are there to make things better, easier, safer. Here, they're not -- yet, no one seems to complain. What you can do, rather than introducing yet another optimization agent (humans do this pretty well), is organize a social movement to make your streets safer through applying demonstratively better solutions with existing technology. For instance, why do demand lights initiate an immediate change rather than simply queuing the change durning the next light cycle? Negligence and miserliness.