Draft #3 Summary_Reader Response_New paths for the roads of tomorrow

In a blog post by JCDecaux, "New paths for the roads of tomorrow” (2017), the author listed out several trends for road developments that could bring about positive impact to human lives and greater sustainability. One example that the author gave was substituting the material that is used on the road surface. He listed the undesired effects “asphalt” brings and cited separate projects developed by engineers to replace the material. The blog post also mentioned incorporating technology into roads which include developing roads that could harvest electricity and planting panels into roads that generate heat, melting down snow and ice that has accumulated on the surfaces. Improving the safety of roads. The last trend mentioned by Decaux was “Smart Highways” which uses sensors to detect motion that activates the light when cars are present thus saving electricity. The author also remarked that the concept of road development projects being "tangible".

The author presented several credible projects for road improvements. However, the article lacks more concrete examples that could better portray the projects’ feasibility on real-life roads. The limitations of these projects are not mentioned in the blog post either.

In the JCDecaux’s blog post, the trends could be discussed in a more comprehensive manner.  More concrete evidence of its feasibility can be shown by Decaux. For the project of replacing ‘asphalt’ with more environmental-friendly material, Decaux only mentioned the benefits of using the new materials, however, he could have included an example of the project being implemented in other cities to proof the project’s practicability. In his blog post, he could have credited Vasudevan ’s contribution to road development in India which was reported by NDTV (2018). Vasudevan stated that "recycled plastic" is more long-lasting as compared to ‘asphalt’ and have helped to develop the process of using the new material for roads. It is announced that "one lakh kilometres of roads" have already been built using the recycled material in more than 11 states. 

In another trend, incorporating technology into roads, one of the technologies touched on is building solar panels into roads. There are numerous projects that have yielded great results such as the "SolaRoad pilot project" initiated in the Netherlands in 2014 which could have been mentioned by Decaux. At least 10,000 kWh of energy were generated, achieving remarkable progress. It also helps kickstarted a handful of other relevant projects. With such information provided, readers would be more aware of the benefits these projects could yield.

Secondly, besides its strengths being spoken about in the blog, its constraints should have been examined as while. For the project of replacing the material used in roads, the blog post could have included the drawbacks from using these alternatives materials. There are articles disagreeing with the use of using "recycled plastics" to build roads as people are unsure of the effects of the new material in the long run. Boyer (2017) claimed that "recycled plastics" would decompose to release harmful waste that could affect "biodiversity". Additionally, the process of generating the new material from these plastics itself isn't environmentally friendly, argued by Jayaraman (2015). In France, panels installed to generate power has been deemed a failure by Monde (2019). Within a short span of three years, signs of poor conditions have been observed. Cracked were found and in the year before and "part of the road had to be demolished" as a result of "wear and tear". The energy produced by the road fails below the anticipated value even as its height. Without knowing the limitations of these projects, readers may develop an inaccurate depiction of them, perceiving the trends mentioned by Decaux to be faultless.

To conclude, Decaux mentioned several trends in his blog post. For these trends, he briefly touched on the strengths and gave rather poor examples. The strengths could have been supported by stronger evidence. The constraints of the projects were also not touched on by Decaux. More information could be added in the post for reference so as to give readers the opportunity to develop a well-informed opinion rather than something that is superficial.

References
Boyer, F. (2017). Eco-friendly roads made out of 100% recycled plastic. Retrieved September 22, 2019, from http://eco-volontaire-international.com/en/eco-friendly-roads-made-out-of-100-recycled-plastic/

Decaux, J.C.(2017, October 23). New paths for the roads of tomorrow [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.jcdecaux.com/mobility-trends/new-paths-roads-tomorrow

Harsono, H. (2019). Why the world’s first smart highway will most likely be in China. Retrieved from September 29, 2019,
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/24/why-the-worlds-first-smart-highway-will-most-likely-be-in-china/

Jayaraman, N. (2015). Heard about miracle "plastic roads"? Here's why it's not a solution to our plastic problem. Retrieved September 22, 2019, from  https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/heard-about-miracle-plastic-roads-heres-why-its-not-solution-our-plastic-problem-36927

Karelia, G., & Bhaskar, S. (2018, October 26). One Lakh Kilometres Of Roads In India Are Being Made From Plastic Waste, Is This The Solution To End Plastic Crisis? NDTV. Retrieved from https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/plastic-waste-roads-one-lakh-kilometre-india-20274/

Pasley, J. (2019, August 15). Photos show the world’s first solar road that’s turned out to be a colossal failure because it’s falling apart and doesn’t generate enough energy,  Business Insider US. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.sg/first-solar-road-france-failure-photos-2019-8/?r=US&IR=T