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Traffic Robots Rolled Out on Shenzhen to Make Travel Faster

Traffic can be a pain, and is certainly one of the most annoying things about driving in a big city. It can get so bad that people are late to work and productivity goes down. That's why China rolled out 'lane robots' in the city of Shenzhen in a bid to relieve traffic congestion. Remote controls are used to move the central lane barrier automatically, redirecting traffic flow and allowing more space on alternating sides of the highway as needed. Local media reported the 'lane bots' have increased traffic flow by 12.1 percent. The bots operate between 7:30 and 9:30 AM local time, the peak time for morning rush hour in the working week as people hurry on their way to work. The robots look like regular road barriers and appear to be very simple to manufacture and control. It's not exactly clear where the controllers are located, but they are keeping their eyes on the road to monitor changing conditions at all times. Who knew that such a simple technology could have such a big impact on coordinating the flow of traffic? It looks like robots will continue to play a bigger role in society and make our lives easier.