PREDICTIONS: Things We Will Miss On The Highways in 25 Years.

[thenetwork]

It's hard to predict the future of interstate & highway technology.  Some things will remain the same, some things will change, some things are changing...

If we were to create a "time capsule" of predictions of what will be long gone in 25 years, what would they be??:

1) White LED street lighting will be the norm -- no more "orange" or "yellow" glows on streets anymore.
2) I also predict that most hard-copy road maps and atlases will be history by 2038. 
3) $3.00 Gas -- though I think by then, there will be a new dominating "fuel" which will be the norm in most vehicles.
4) By 2038, all tollways, turnpikes, toll bridges will be cashless & ticketless.

Others??

[NE2]

Clearview. Also known as "that strange test font from 25 years ago".

[SSOWorld]

HOV or HOT lanes in 75% of all US major cities by 2020 </wild guess>

[sammi]

2038

Is this an arbitrary choice, or will toll collection systems in the future support 64-bit time?

Apparently, I don't understand the phrase "in 25 years". I am not a smart girl.

[Zmapper]

Truck drivers: A partnership between International and UPS produced the first viable driverless truck in 2021, and within the next 15 years over 80% of trucks operate without a human driver.

[DaBigE]

Truck drivers: A partnership between International and UPS produced the first viable driverless truck in 2021, and within the next 15 years over 80% of trucks operate without a human driver.

I read that and I can't help but think of The Simpsons episode where Homer was a truck driver, completing Big Red's route with the help of the Navitron Autodrive system.

[briantroutman]

Clearview. Also known as "that strange test font from 25 years ago".

To the people of 2038, Clearview will seem like '70s metrication propaganda does to us today.



But what is the likelihood that the entire concept of signage, or at least guide signage, will be passé? All route information displayed in-vehicle by GPS, with a standardized interface mandated by a government consortium for bi-directional communication of dynamic toll rates, payment information, traffic data, and so on.

Perhaps with driverless cars by then, too.

[NE2]

Correct answer to the first question: nothing.

But what is the likelihood that the entire concept of signage, or at least guide signage, will be passé?

Hell no. Cyclists use signs too.

[Roadsguy]

What would be nice, but is probably unlikely to happen, is all freeways and "pure" expressways (i.e. no businesses; just intersections) being electronically tolled (whether or not it was previously tolled), and surface streets being maintained by the gas tax. Among other things, it would reduce traffic on major shunpike routes (like what NJ's Somerset Freeway would have been).

Is this an arbitrary choice, or will toll collection systems in the future support 64-bit time?

By the year 292,277,026,596, humanity will no longer exist, let alone road systems.

[sammi]

Is this an arbitrary choice, or will toll collection systems in the future support 64-bit time?

By the year 292,277,026,596, humanity will no longer exist, let alone road systems.

I was actually referring to how 2038 won't see any 32-bit machines because of the 2038 problem, so they will have 64-bit. Still, I misread the OP. >_<

[codyg1985]

I think some highway guide signs may start to go away IF augmented reality systems such as Google Glass or self-driving cars really take off.

[roadman65]

The freedom to travel from place to place without having to pay.  We all have talked about it before here on this forum, so we all are aware that the time will come where we will pay a driving tax.  Since technology has come a long way, it won't be long before our nation's lawmakers will make use of it to collect more taxes on us. 

Probably the signs will go as GPS will most likely be the norm, and the signs will not be needed.  Alex and I talked about it in our mini road meet about the XXXX Next X Exits signs will go soon with the technological advance in place.  In addition I feel that with GPS providing gas food and lodging information and even direct dialing for these to the phone system, you do not really need road signs. 

Remember the VCR how big and great we thought that trend was, and then a few years later the DVD, and now simple downloading!   We were always talking about movies we rented and how good life was because of it, and who thought that it would end just in a few years, but it did.

[NE2]

The freedom to travel from place to place without having to pay.

holy crap free gas

[vdeane]

Even with GPS, navigating closely spaced exits/cross streets would still be hard without signs.

[roadman65]

Lets hope on that one that our politicians will see.  We may, though, have exit numbers posted alone without guides as the GPS will tell us which exit is for what road and to where.

[Jardine]

Another 25 years, and out in the rural areas there won't be hardly any old fashioned overhead steel truss bridges left.  They are getting scarce now.

They will all be reinforced concrete beam bridges with low banisters, and they will all look alike.

And for the city folks out for a drive in the country in the fall, as big as the farm equipment they have to dodge is now, look out, even bigger stuff is in store!

Another 25 years might be taxing on quite a few culverts and road tubes too.  There are ones around here over 100 years old, and water and chloride and freeze thaw with eventually get them all.

There will be many more farm houses with video security equipment, and some of those cameras will catch adjoining highways and byways.  Smile and wave as you go by!

25 years there might be automated farm equipment too.  Not sure if it would be allowed to travel on highways going field to field, but I suppose that is inevitable. 

I'd expect in a few years to have a dossier pop up on my smart phone when ever anyone pulls up to my house.  Before they even get out of the car, I'll know who has pulled into my driveway, the license and VIN on their car, and info on what business they might be associated with.

[PHLBOS]

Lets hope on that one that our politicians will see.  We may, though, have exit numbers posted alone without guides as the GPS will tell us which exit is for what road and to where.

Please, more reliance on GPS' (over signs) would be the absolute last thing I would want to see. 



I've seen too way many people who have driven for years screw up more when using GPS systems than without them; and these individuals I'm referring to are lay people, as opposed to road geeks, traffic engineers, etc.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned button-copy signage yet.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Please, more reliance on GPS' (over signs) would be the absolute last thing I would want to see. 

Seconded.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned button-copy signage yet.

Beat me to it.

Just like truss bridges (and even moreso), button copy is going to be as rare as unicorn blood.

[roadman65]

Button copy I already miss, but since reflective signs have become the norm I kinda got used to them.  Being from NJ we had plenty of button copy signs on the Turnpike and was fond of them then.

[jeffandnicole]

Self-driving cars will probably be the most promiment thing we'll see in 25 years.  It'll make GPS important, but not in the way mentioned above - the cars will be relying on GPS, not us.

And even more important - not everyone will have a self-driven car.  There's still cars on the road today that aren't required to have seatbelts, for example.  So signage will still be important to those that don't have or utilize GPSs in their vehicle. 

[Takumi]

In 25 years, cars will all look 99% the same (other than supercars), so I'll miss the individuality of older cars. Even now something from the 1980s gets more attention from me on the road than, say, a Tesla.

[PHLBOS]

In 25 yearsToday, cars will all look 99% the same (other than supercars),

FTFY 

[realjd]

Self-driving cars will probably be the most promiment thing we'll see in 25 years.  It'll make GPS important, but not in the way mentioned above - the cars will be relying on GPS, not us.

And even more important - not everyone will have a self-driven car.  There's still cars on the road today that aren't required to have seatbelts, for example.  So signage will still be important to those that don't have or utilize GPSs in their vehicle. 

I came in here to say the exact same thing. Bring on the self driving cars!

[hotdogPi]

We will not see:

Tolls that are below $1.
Button copy.
I-3 in Georgia.
Sequential exit numbers.

Things we will see:

Advertising on road signs.
Clearview.
Goats.

[PHLBOS]

We will not see:

Tolls that are below $1.

To add, no more ECLs.