Incredible Road Technologies That Are Insanely Cool

[weluckusa]

*These incredible road technologies are revolutionizing the way we travel! I'm amazed by the creativity and engineering behind them. The self-healing concrete and solar panels on the road are particularly fascinating. Can't wait to see what the future holds for our roads* 🥰🥰

[ithinkitsjames]

that bump in the first clip seems really cool, especially when theres an ambulance speeding carrying a dying patient and then gets flung feet in the air after a speed bump randomly appears. seems super safe👍

[fernrob]

Those freeway lights would give me a panic attack lol

[entropynme]

The ambulance traffic thing has already existed in some cities/states for quite a while now. I remember there was a story in my hometown where a guy hated his commute in the morning because of all the traffic and he figured out that if he programmed a universal remote with the code 911 he was able to point it at the traffic lights and get them to turn green with the volume up button. It took the authorities a while to catch on to it but they eventually threw the book at him and changed the codes to something a little less obvious

[TheVagabond]

A lot of these sound like great ideas, but I worry about maintenance and wear-and-tear. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad people are working on new ideas, but "cheaper to install" often means "more expensive to maintain" in the long run.

[james-]

Some of these already exist and are used quite a lot, most are totally impractical or cost prohibitive or have huge flaws. The best one that I haven't seen done is the speed bumps that raise depending on the speed.

[Dushmany]

6:10 The Porous Road system in the UK, though not implemented beyond some experimental stages, was proven to be unworkable. They proved to be unreliable in the event of low level flooding points where the water HAD no where else to go, debris clogging the ‘natural’ water channels, and was ripped up far easier by freezing/melting conditions and heavy traffic.
Which is a pity, as it is being used in some parts of Europe.

[brockleblanc]

I would like to point out that the "patch" that they're putting on the road around 5:27 is literally just ice and water shield, which is a waterproofing layer used in roofing.

[MattJohnson]

@8:30 We already have this in Minnesota. The preferred system in Minnesota is the Opticom system. Not only does this system give emergency service vehicles 'traffic priority', they're also integrated with rail systems to clear out possible backups before a train approaches the crossing, and even in our Minneapolis Metro transit busses to give them a little higher priority than normal traffic. "Falling in the wrong hands" while technically possible (anything is) it's highly unlikely. These aren't the old systems where pulses of light at a specific rate works. They're sending actual information optically, such as the vehicle ID and a secret key, to determine if your transponder is authorized. Even if you are able to clone a transponder, it wouldn't work long. The system can now randomly generate new keys every so often, or detect when misuse is likely (comparing activations for Ambulance 2 shows 10 activations where Ambulance 2 was not on a call). When tied in to an intelligent traffic management system a single activation could preempt the traffic further away. Cool stuff.

[MDQ]

@2:26 Tobey's Spiderman should be in this scene

[hotwheels]

We call that asphalt popcorn pavement in the northern US. The purpose of this asphalt is that the water seeps through this surface layer and drains on the intermediate surface, eliminating surface water and the potential hazards that come with surface water retention. However, when water freezes it expands, and when this happens in between two layers of asphalt, they separate. This asphalt mix had holes everywhere from freeze thaw cycles earning the name popcorn mix. It’s been around for a long time and is only used in warmer climates due to this characteristic.

[Boatperson]

The road lights aren’t very epileptic friendly! Would hypnotise me after a few hours!

[raythomson]

The plastic road panels at the 10:00 mark are stated as 10 square feet. They appear to be about 10 x 10 feet which would be 100 square feet.

[ocsrc]

The system to change traffic lights has been in use in America for over 20 years. The emergency vehicles transmit an encrypted light signal with the password and the unit ID
So you can see exactly who has triggered the green light and what lane, direction and time it is triggered
It is called MIRT

[welucknew]

1:12 Speed humps are devices that have a warning effect by making a slight impact on vehicles, letting road users know in advance where they need to slow down and pay attention to ensure traffic safety.👍

[akkseljohansson]

These bike lane barriers are ideal to get the pedals hooked in. Great invention by a non-cyclist

[ccyang]

Yep! I like the Road Patching! ✌️😁♥️. And it will save time and Days! Sometimes road work can take months and weeks or a few day🤦‍♀️

[yannlandry]

The rising crosswalk is not in France, it's in Quebec, Canada. You can see it on the plate of the vehicle at the beginning.

[alm]

Most of these solutions would have horrible function and maintenance issues in any environment that has snow and cold. Porous asphalt has been an available option in MN for a long time.

[lotuselansteve]

These drainage kerbs have been used in the UK for over 25 years! They are called Beany blocks and were invented by Neil (Beany) Beanland.