The Age of the Traffic Sign
2008-03-30 06:49AM PDT/Home
I had one of those wonderful ah-ha moments yesterday while riding my bike. I was looking at the myriad of traffic signs arrayed around me, hundreds of them, mile after mile. And it struck me that they're all going away. Okay, not all, and not abruptly. They will still be here for some time, but I think we've reached the apex, the absolute height of traffic signage and it's all downhill from here.
There's a perfect storm of technology building and it's all arrayed against the venerable traffic sign. First up, GPS mapping devices that are already in use. They walk you through your trip turn for turn. As these become more prevalent, and more detailed, the need for signs goes down. Certainly those signs that that say, 150 miles to San Francisco, they're the first to go. Who needs a sign telling you how far something is when your GPS is counting down the miles for you? But it won't be long before more and more signs fall to GPS devices. Signs that give you visual clues as to which lane you should be in to make an exit? Your days are numbered.
Then there's wireless technology. I've been wondering for some time when we'll see our first wireless traffic light. Oh sure, it'll still look just like a traditional traffic light, at least at first, but its state will be broadcast wirelessly to your car. As you approach the light, a little red light at least should be going off on your dash alerting you there's a red light up ahead. Similarly, it won't be long before we have wireless signs, where the information will simply appear on a screen in your dash or projected onto your windshield. And over time, the physical sign, the big flat broad part with letters on it will shrink and then ultimately disappear. Starting with speed limit signs, instead of having a physical sign, the speed limit should be transmitted to the car where it can be displayed on the speedometer where it belongs.
Finally, and this is the ultimate in sign killer, when cars drive us, and we don't drive them. Think what the road will look like when we just get in the car and tell it, "car: drive to work". Before we sit back and sip our coffee and type away on our laptops.
Traffic signs, I appreciate all you've done. I do. But you're done. Finis. It's time for you to start down the same path as the coin operated public telephone. I gotta tell you, I can't wait. All those signs, they uglify a perfectly good bike ride.