14 DAY TRIAL // The first city to guide motorists with e-ink during special events is Sydney, in Australia.
The city's main road authority Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) agency wanted to stop the continuous useless cash flows in changing signs and developed the new ones with Visionect. Based on the same technology like Kindle, the signs are easy to see and read in Sydney's bright sunshine, which is also used as power via solar panels.
For night usage, the sign are lighted and the messages can easily be updated remotely via a cell connection in "Internet of Things" style network. Although, as we mentioned before, e-ink has huge potential for pretty much anything that involves display, whether on clothes, screens of any sorts, watches and now signage, Sydney's approach was nothing too fancy, just a simple display inside a yellow bigger sign. Just imagine how easy it would be to change whole signs at different times or when road restoration works take place without any money being spent or staff hurdled in traffic to change signs in rush hours.
Australian authorities believes that, unlike the US authorities in Los Angeles that spend up to $9.5 million on parking restrictions per year, not counting strain on staff and precious resources being uselessly spent, e-ink would prove to be infinitely more cost-effective, critical funds and staff members being sent to indispensable areas, where they are most needed.