Could Montana Be Home To The Next Smart Highway?
Everything is smart nowadays. There are smartphones, smart cars, smart TVs, smart appliances, smart people (not the author of this here article) and now there are smart highways.
Michigan will become home to the nation's first smart highway. Engadget reports that a small stretch of Interstate 94 between Ann Arbor (Go Blue) and Detroit will hit the books to develop a road with "sensor pods, compute pods and communication equipment." The intent is "to inform both Michigan's Department of Transportation and drivers about potential issues ahead, such as obstacles in the road, accidents or traffic jams."
The pods and equipment will have the capability to connect to any car with connectivity.
Montana, are you interested?
My first thought was "Doesn't Google Maps already provide up-to-date traffic notifications?" If you use Maps, drivers can comment on accidents or detours you discovered. After I thought about it a little further, I suppose it would be safer to have automatic updates sent to your car's monitor rather than having to update it yourself via your phone.
My tinfoil-hat thought was "Wait a minute, can some Edward Snowden-fella take control of my car? Can there be errors sent that would screw with my smart car?"
But then I thought "Wait a minute, my 2012 Buick Verano is a piece of garbage. It can't do anything smart."
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In all seriousness, would this work in Montana? Are you even interested in trying this in Montana? I'm not sure it would be worth it either because a vast majority of I-90 is in the middle of nowhere Montana. Placing a smart highway near Billings, Missoula, Bozeman or any larger city could potentially make sense, but it seems like a lot of effort for little payoff.
Let us know your thoughts on whether smart highways in Montana would work.
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Gallery Credit: Ryan Antoinette Valenzuela