Today’s technological landscape offers advancement in every area. Technological development is creating rapid changes in computing, electronics, health care, education, and many other areas.
Transportation is no different, and though concept cars and space travel might be the first modes of transit to come to mind, other advances will affect the surfaces and infrastructure on which we drive. New developments are paving the way for smart highways, which will change the way we commute.
How can technology be applied to our roadways to make them safer and more dynamic, streamlined and efficient? There are many conceptual answers to this question across the country and around the world. Ideas in various levels of development and implementation already exist, and they will continue to increase as the industry gains traction.
Glow-In-The-Dark Lanes
Reflectors and streetlights are commonly used in many roads of America to ensure visibility at night. Power grids and infrastructure exist to light much of America’s highway with conventional electric bulb lighting. As budget makers at the local and state levels search for ways to cut costs, the power required to keep highway street lights on has been deemed too costly, encouraging many to pursue more sustainable solutions.
Night-driving visibility may receive a technological facelift in just one of many conceptual changes to driving surfaces that may become reality over the coming decade. Many of these interesting ideas are being tested around the world to provide an alternative to energy-gobbling street lamps. One promising concept is the use of luminescent paint, which absorbs sunlight during the day and glows in the dark for up to ten hours. Technology website New Atlas reports that this concept was implemented in a stretch of test highway in the Netherlands and could quickly make its way to dark roadways in the U.S.
Wind-Powered or Motion-Sensor Lights
Motion sensors may be used to detect approaching cars and turn on a street light only when it’s needed. Other possibilities for providing power to light roadways include the use of small pinwheel generators to capture air movement created by rapidly passing vehicles. These wind and motion-sensor concepts were included in the plans for the aforementioned test road in the Netherlands. Other firms, conceptual designers, and incubators are developing their own variations on these technologies that could one day greatly enhance the efficiency of our roadways.
Electric Priority Lanes
As public interest and federally-backed incentives for environmental prudency increase, more incentives that encourage or benefit the users of electric or other alternative fuel-source vehicles will appear. The global movement to decrease fossil fuel dependence will continue to make way for non-conventional vehicles, and infrastructure is slowly being installed to encourage that shift. Electric priority lanes may one day become common in American communities. As electric cars become more common, roads may be constructed with magnet coils below the surface to charge electric cars via induction as they pass overhead.
According to Popular Science, Korean researchers have successfully used an induction-charged public bus in an amusement park since 2010. Because of its success and efficiency, they plan to upgrade its infrastructure to accommodate induction-charged buses.
Solar-Charging Roads
Though still in its infancy, the concept of multi-purposing roads by turning them into solar collection surfaces, is gaining traction. Solar panels on roads could theoretically collect energy to control traffic signals and power street lights or display panels that inform drivers of traffic information and upcoming hazards.
Solar panel road surfaces have yet to prove themselves a viable option, but multiple early tests have been conducted across America. According to Energy Digital, solar energy startup Solar Roadways will facilitate a trial run in Conway, Missouri. For this trial run, solar panels will be laid on sidewalks and at rest stops along stretches of historic Route 66 to ascertain their performance. A successful trial run may earn Solar Roadways new contracts to install panels in other areas, resulting in a new infrastructural option for America’s roadways.
Enhancing the way roadways work will prove to be an exciting and expansive industry, as technological advances continue to propel transit to new heights.
Learn More
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Additional Reading
5 States with the Most Congested Highways in the Country
A Civil Engineer’s Look at Roads and Highways
Technology and the Future of America’s Infrastructure
Sources:
CNet, “Glow-in-the-dark ‘smart’ highway opens in the Netherlands”
Tech Briefs, “Highway Wind Power Generation by VAWT (Vertical axis wind turbine)”
Energy Digital
Forbes, “4 Innovation Trends That Could Change The Way We Design Roads By 2020”
Inhabitat, “Wind Power From New Jersey Highways”
New Atlas, “Smart Highways” will glow in the dark, plus a lot more
Popular Science, Street SmartsHow intelligent roads—not just cars—will change transportation.