How Will The Future Pedestrian Get Around?

So far, in the technology and social conversations about the future, we’ve only talked about cars and other road transport. However, cars have always been the minority as most of use public transport to get about. We also still use our humble legs to walk around cities and get to where we need to be. Major cities like London are known to have pedestrians that walk way faster than people from other parts of the country. Life is fast on two feet, but it’s also fast on two wheels. We’re seeing more and more innovative inventions that aim to make the pedestrian’s life easier. However we must remember that as the population increases, cities will have to change too. If pedestrian travel is going to go through a revolution, then we will need to look at how we can adapt our cities and towns to accommodate this new kind of lifestyle. Governments around the world are looking to implement amazing new technologies that will make our cities more eco-friendly, faster and easier to navigate and much more pleasant to visit.

A digital walkway?

Many people unfortunately lose their lives while trying to cross the road in cities. Since cars and people are in confined quarters, if one person makes a mistake someone is going to get hurt. That’s why even the simple walkway crossing is being looked at for changes. The Starling Crossing is an adaptive response and learning technology that is designed for major cities and eventually the world over. Currently, it’s being designed by a London-based company by the name of Umbrellium. Right now it appears to be in the prototype stage but already it’s causing a great stir. The crossing will be using LED lights that will show pedestrians what color the traffic light is. Quite clearly, this is being made because pedestrians have to look up at a traffic light before crossing and if you’re in a hurry, you might not do this.

The crossing also widens when there are a lot of people walking over it. When there are no pedestrians crossing can vanish and it looks like any normal piece of road. This is excellent for governments who want more flexibility. They can erect crossings wherever they want, rather than having to physically build them which makes them permanent and very costly. What this will also do is give pedestrians a visible safety advantage. If the crossing turns red, it means that the public must stand back as the traffic is moving. This is of course subject to change as different colors will need to be used so as to not conflict with the traffic lights.

Traveling in swift silence

Modern civilization is already seeing what the future will look like. Many experts in social and cultural movements and study are already in agreement that we are kind of already living in the future. Now we’re seeing silent forms of travel that make covering long distance for pedestrians, much easier and more comfortable. E-scooters are in particular leading this charge, as you simply get on and with the twist of a handle you could be going 10-20 mph. Many of the best electric scooters have massive ranges. The Ninebot-Segway ES4 has a range of 45km which for such as small personal vehicle, is quite amazing considering the battery technology is quite early in the development stages.

However, e-scooters are silent for the most part, or at least have such a low noise level that cars cannot hear them as they would a motor scooter. This has caused some accidents to occur whereby some people have even lost their lives. It’s important that you consider talking to a  Pedestrian Personal Injury lawyer that has dealt with such cases. Very often a poor driver’s excuse of choice will be the fact that the e-scooter you were using didn’t give any noise warning. But with an experienced legal team, you position, right of way and pedestrian rights will be protected to the fullest. Society is still learning and adapting to these new personal vehicles. But this is no excuse to not be aware that more and more pedestrian might be using reasonably fast-moving vehicles that can transition from road to walkway usage.

Fluid traffic all around

The more we study how our cities work, the more we see that they are using very archaic methods. Traffic flow is a huge issue for large cities. For almost a decade, everyone has agreed that you would get to one side of a city much quicker by using your own steam and by using public transport. Traffic has gotten so bad, that certain areas of cities have had to be restrictive in how many cars they all through. One of the solutions could be adaptive traffic lights and walkways. Pedestrians should not have to press a button to get the traffic to stop just so they can cross. This prevents the flow of cars for a lot longer than it takes for one person to cross the street.

Traffic Tech is an Australian-based which is working on technology that will change how pedestrians and traffic flows engage with each other. Pressure sensitive pads on the edges of walkways or at crossings, will alert the traffic system that someone is waiting to cross. All you need to do is stand on the pad and it will send a signal to control the traffic lights. If you choose to step off it, it will cancel the signal and keep traffic moving. The device is going to be used to make sure traffic stays fluid so there is less congestion and less pollution. It will also speed up traffic light stops so pedestrians can get on with what they need to do such as heading to business meetings, going to the shops or running errands. 

All in all, the future is going to be amazing for pedestrians. Rather than walking everywhere, we can opt to buy personal vehicles which allow us to move around quickly. Since they will be battery powered we will also be able to charge them at work and at home alike.