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Futuristic Superhighway

 Futuristic Superhighway
type
FeatureClass
 Futuristic Superhighway
label
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway
page
FuturisticSuperhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway
comment
In The Future, driving long distances in a car is going to be a very different experience.
This trope is about how automobile traffic is affected by technological and societal progression in high-tech future settings. Namely, as cities become big enough to rival the size of modern-day countries or even encompass an entire planet, general populations tend to increase as well as the number of people with cars looking to go places with them.
Likewise, road vehicles tend to change with the times, too. Most futuristic vehicles will be able to reach average speeds of upwards of 200 km/h or 120 mph, and futuristic freight trucks tend to be more than twice their normal sizes by today's standards. A lot of wheeled vehicles may also come with an AI computer on board that can drive the car by itself. Lastly, it goes without saying that a lot of future cars will also fly.
With all of these new changes, it only makes sense that highways and major roadways and traffic patterns change with them. Usually, the most noticeable difference that can be observed almost immediately tends to be how mass-transit roads tend to be a lot wider to accommodate for the increased traffic in the future society; very wide highways with more than 8 lanes to accommodate for two-way travel are not uncommon. Other advancements tend to incorporate magnets and magnetism in various ways to aid in a future car's ability to drive itself, maintain safe distances from other cars to prevent accidents, and/or allow cars to do impossible things like drive upside-down or vertically up walls.
Naturally, for Flying Cars, air-travel routes are specifically designed just for them, much like how there are for airplanes in the modern day. In more urban environments, travel routes for flying cars may be stacked on top of each other to allow access to and from different locations found at different altitudes throughout a future city.
Typically showcased a great deal in Chase Scenes in a future setting where they may double as Scenery Porn, they tend to actually function without there being many problems. There never tend to be many traffic jams, and even when there may be a disastrous motor accident or immense pileup on such roads, they very commonly always benefit from a Snap Back, especially in serial adventure stories where any major road disasters in one installment never hinder characters traveling along them in episodes immediately following it (and even when it would seem like a very difficult thing to fix with most vehicles traveling at speeds faster than it may conceivably take emergency services to arrive, cordon off an accident, and properly redirect traffic).

Examples
 Futuristic Superhighway
fetched
2023-10-02T02:15:40Z
 Futuristic Superhighway
parsed
2023-10-02T02:15:40Z
 Futuristic Superhighway
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Dropped link to ExpansionPack: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Futuristic Superhighway
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Dropped link to FlyingCar: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Futuristic Superhighway
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Dropped link to StarWars: Not an Item - CAT
 Futuristic Superhighway
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_10175749
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_10175749
comment
Aquaman (2018). The Kingdom of Atlantis seems to be just Underwater Ruins until Arthur Curry gets his first look at the Gateway Bridge which is an Awesome Underwater World version of this trope. The reason for Atlantis having a bridge at all is that it's a relic of the old Atlantis before it sunk, now used as a border control checkpoint.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_10175749
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_10175749
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 Aquaman (2018)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_10175749
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_16712475
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_16712475
comment
The Jetsons had to deal with traffic jams in their Flying Car in at least one episode.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_16712475
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_16712475
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1.0
 The Jetsons
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_16712475
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2ae406c1
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2ae406c1
comment
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri allows you to build "magtubes" once you finish the Magnetic Monopole research. They function like Civilization's railroads, allowing instant travel between locations with a continuous magtube path.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2ae406c1
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2ae406c1
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1.0
 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Video Game)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_2ae406c1
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2d00ad65
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2d00ad65
comment
Walt Disney's "Magic Highway, U.S.A." from 1958 had a segment based around this trope, predicting things like multi-colored lanes indicating their destination, heated roads for rain and snow, cantilevered highways above canyons, tubular highways, air-conditioned desert highways, mountain highways that protect from sub-zero temperatures, underwater highways, upside-down highways, etc.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2d00ad65
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 Futuristic Superhighway / int_2d00ad65
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 Walt Disney Presents
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_2d00ad65
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_3be12f54
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_3be12f54
comment
In Nemesis the Warlock, human civilization on Earth has moved underground where cities are connected to each other by a system of "Travel Tubes" (pictured above), the inside of which are covered in a coat of magma, allowing all vehicles to travel along any part of a tube's interior lining.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_3be12f54
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 Nemesis the Warlock (Comic Book)
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_41d5af1a
comment
The sections of Total Recall (2012) set in the United Federation of Britain show London with an additional metropolis built on stilts above it, with a multi-layered system of roads threaded around. Ascending and descending between tiers seems to be via special elevators. Oh, and the cars can either float slightly above the surface of the roadways or hover suspended from the underside, doubling the capacity. This is in addition to the normal roads below and FutureCopters around.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_41d5af1a
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 Futuristic Superhighway / int_41d5af1a
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 Total Recall (2012)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_41d5af1a
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_48d44b5a
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_48d44b5a
comment
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The "Sky Highway", an alternate dimension that consists of seemingly nothing but a massive, multi-layered highway. Anyone who stumbles into this world through one of the random portals that appear on the highways of Earth begin to mutate into bizarre, Big Daddy Roth-esque mutants along with their vehicles, though most of them don't care, as the Sky Highway is portrayed as a realm of pure, high-speed freedom.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_48d44b5a
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1.0
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 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage) (Comic Book)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_48d44b5a
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_4a6ef2c5
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_4a6ef2c5
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Space Battleship Yamato has "aircars" that travel around the underground city in elevated tubeways.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_4a6ef2c5
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_4a6ef2c5
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 Space Battleship Yamato
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_4a6ef2c5
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_51f345f6
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_51f345f6
comment
Stage 1 Neo Hong Kong City, Scene 4 from Strider 2 pits Hiryu against the Kuniang Team as they fight on top of aircars speeding around the airspace of a Skyscraper City.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_51f345f6
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_51f345f6
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 Strider (Arcade) (Video Game)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_51f345f6
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_5cdad167
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_5cdad167
comment
Highways in Minority Report are substantially different from those in the present day, allowing some cars to drive themselves, let law enforcement easily intercept cars harboring suspected criminals by changing the vehicle's travel route and destination, and (most notable of all) drive up vertical roads.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_5cdad167
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_5cdad167
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 Minority Report
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_5cdad167
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_616626a5
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_616626a5
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In the X-Universe, travel is a slow affair courtesy of ships that often can barely reach highway speed. Jonferco's slipstream "highways" first seen in X3: Albion Prelude and functional in X: Rebirth completely revolutionized travel, allowing ships to accelerate to stupendous speeds to easily travel between different points of interest in planetary orbit or travel to completely different planets within a solar system. Where ships once had to drift to their destination for hours on end, now they are flung from point to point at a not-insignificant fraction of the speed of light in densely packed three-dimensional energy slipstreams that can fit a dozen ships across.
The Home Of Light Expansion Pack shows the logical conclusion to the highway system in the eponymous star system, which takes the form of a giant ring of districts connected by a single continuous highway loop. Holographic advertisements flank every district sign, and way stations for travelers to rest and relax are a common sight.
Highways return in X4: Foundations, albeit with far less prominence due to backlash; most systems are traversed with a new "Travel drive" that ships can activate outside of combat to boost their max speed. However, like Home Of Light, there is a massive highway "ring" that circles the center of the gate network, with highways feeding straight through a jumpgate to another highway light-years away, allowing ships to traverse the major systems in a matter of minutes.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_616626a5
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_616626a5
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 X (Video Game)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_616626a5
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_655912a5
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_655912a5
comment
Ghost Rider 2099 features the Mega City Transverse City, spreading from Chicago all the way to Detroit and characterized by long roads with countless lanes, and the vehicles range from ordinary cars to flying motorcycles to what are essentially mini-cities or buildings on wheels—including luxury hotels, corporate offices, and restaurants—that are constantly in motion.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_655912a5
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_655912a5
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 Ghost Rider 2099 / Comicbook
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_655912a5
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_7668653a
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_7668653a
comment
Illium in Mass Effect 2 features a three-dimensional web of air routes for its (many, many) Flying Cars.
The same flying cars are also used on the Citadel and the human colony Bekenstein (seen from far away).
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_7668653a
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_7668653a
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1.0
 Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_7668653a
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_86b52b7b
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_86b52b7b
comment
In the I, Robot movie, automobiles all have automatic pilots, which are legally required to be activated when driving over certain speeds.
All cars, including trucks, also drive on spheres instead of wheels, allowing them to move in a direction different from where the vehicle is facing. Makes parallel parking—and drifting—a lot easier. That is if they parked their cars, which they don't. They put cars in garages that look like the dry cleaners coat rack. Better hope all your items are secured.
Miles upon miles of vast, well-lit, underground tunnels long enough and wide enough to accommodate entire freeways; the clash between Spooner and the two truckfuls of USR robots is taking place at fairly high speeds and takes quite a while, which means they've all been travelling quite the distance. It's implied high-speed freeways in Chicago are mostly, if not completely, underground, whilst the ground level is for pedestrians and slower traffic, in addition to the historic elevated trains.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_86b52b7b
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_86b52b7b
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 I, Robot
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_86b52b7b
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_8e94127f
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_8e94127f
comment
To Sail Beyond the Sunset mentions in passing a network of high-speed superhighways where all of the cars were computer-controlled to avoid human-error-induced accidents. At one point, a couple of characters mention the computer in their car was on the fritz, so they had to drive the old fashioned way, causing the trip to take far, far longer.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_8e94127f
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_8e94127f
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 To Sail Beyond the Sunset
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_8e94127f
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_905cf99c
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_905cf99c
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23rd Century New York City in The Fifth Element has flying cars driving in lanes.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_905cf99c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_905cf99c
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1.0
 The Fifth Element
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_905cf99c
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_976efc02
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_976efc02
comment
Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured the 1956 General Motors promotional film Design for Dreaming that ends with the happy couple riding their turbine-engine car through the Highway of Tomorrow - "Look, Dead Raccoon of Tomorrow!"
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_976efc02
featureApplicability
1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_976efc02
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1.0
 Mystery Science Theater 3000
hasFeature
Futuristic Superhighway / int_976efc02
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_a183d57f
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_a183d57f
comment
In Futurama all cars are hovercars, so there are skylanes along with regular ground roads. In "Bendin' In The Wind" the Golden Gate Bridge is now a hoverbridge, so it doesn't need an actual road on it... which is a problem since the gang is on a 20th Century VW Microbus. Intergalactic trucking routes and railroads are also present, and "Rebirth", the first episode after the series was Un-Cancelled, features the Panama Wormhole.
In another episode, New New York's Futuristic Superhighway undergoes roadwork. The billboard that explains this also says Alternate Route: Just fly there.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_a183d57f
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_a183d57f
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 Futurama
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_a183d57f
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b0ec45b8
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b0ec45b8
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Metropolis featured some eleven lanes of traffic on the ground (remarkably prescient for some cities) and some absurdly high elevated roadways and railways.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b0ec45b8
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b0ec45b8
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1.0
 Metropolis
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_b0ec45b8
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b24f49ab
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b24f49ab
comment
Back to the Future Part II begins with Doc, Marty, and Jennifer arriving in the year 2015 inadvertently flying against traffic on a highway specifically designed for Flying Cars.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b24f49ab
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b24f49ab
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1.0
 Back to the Future Part II
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_b24f49ab
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b6f4562d
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b6f4562d
comment
One of the many ludicrous images in Kamandi: At Earth's End is a truly titanic highway, practically the width of a city, justified by Rule of Cool. The cars that drive on it are much more Mad Max: Fury Road than The Jetsons, though.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b6f4562d
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_b6f4562d
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 Kamandi (Comic Book)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_b6f4562d
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c2297a9c
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c2297a9c
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Judge Dredd's Mega-City One includes a great number of different highway transit systems with average speed limits typically being over 200 MPH. The longest and widest of these, the Superslab, is suggested as spanning the entire length of the city from north to south with a dozen traffic lanes in each direction. The very first strip in 2000 AD featured Dredd sentencing a criminal to Devil's Island—a prison set up on a large traffic island in the middle of the Big Meg's inter-city highway complex with no need for walls because busy traffic is constantly moving at speeds of up to 250 MPH all day and all night, guaranteeing instant death for anyone who tries to escape.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c2297a9c
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 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c2297a9c
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 Judge Dredd (Comic Book)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_c2297a9c
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c43df4d8
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c43df4d8
comment
Doctor Who: In "Gridlock", the Doctor returns to the planet New Earth to discover one of these in the city of New New York stuck in a massive traffic jam because the entire population of the rest of the planet died in a virulent plague, and the under city, including the motorway, was sealed off to protect the population. Afterward, there wasn't enough power to reopen it. And if that wasn't bad enough, there are devolved Macra which escaped from the zoo living on the bottom of the pollution-choked tunnel waiting to snatch anyone who tries to use the 3-person "fast lane".
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_c43df4d8
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 Doctor Who
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_c43df4d8
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_d45837ba
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_d45837ba
comment
You can build these in Cities: Skylines with a "Road Anarchy" modnote mods that remove restrictions for placing roads, unlocking unlimited height in the process and the right highway mods.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_d45837ba
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1.0
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_d45837ba
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1.0
 Cities: Skylines (Video Game)
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_d45837ba
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_daff6a21
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_daff6a21
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In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Duel Monsters has become so ingrained into society that there are entire separate lanes built onto highways for people who want to play card games on motorcycles.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_daff6a21
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 Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
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Futuristic Superhighway / int_daff6a21
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_e5fd2cef
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_e5fd2cef
comment
Lensman: In First Lensman, in the Big Applesauce of the future, Lensman Virgil Samms drives his gyro-stabilised two-wheeler onto the Wright Skyway, a limited-access superhighway with a maze of feeder ramps running all the way up the skyscraper he's working in, and higher (presumably exits for Flying Cars). The only problem is learning to ignore the bombardment of very noisy advertising.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_e5fd2cef
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 Lensman
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 Futuristic Superhighway / int_f16ee232
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_f16ee232
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The Caves of Steel had the strips, localways, and Expressway, the first being a series of progressively faster (or slower, depending on which direction you're going) moving walkways and the latter two being sort of a cross between high-speed moving walkways and perpetually moving and unending trams or trains. Interestingly, there were also more conventional underground motorways, but given the near total lack of cars, they're largely abandoned and used only by the emergency services.
 Futuristic Superhighway / int_f16ee232
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 Futuristic Superhighway / int_f16ee232
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 The Caves of Steel
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Futuristic Superhighway
processingCategory2
Futuristic Tech Index
 Futuristic Superhighway
processingCategory2
Motor Vehicle Tropes
 Futuristic Superhighway
processingCategory2
Speculative Fiction Tropes
 Futuristic Superhighway
processingCategory2
We Will Not Use an Index in the Future
 Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Nemesis the Warlock (Comic Book) / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Back to the Future Part II / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Design for Dreaming / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 I, Robot / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Metropolis / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Minority Report / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Solaris (1972) / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 The Fifth Element / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Total Recall (2012) / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Lensman / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Rainbows End / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Riesel Tales: Two Hunters / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 FuturisticSuperHighway
sameAs
Futuristic Superhighway
 Mystery Science Theater 3000 / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Tomes And Talismans / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Walt Disney Presents / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Chrono Cross (Video Game) / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 Huntdown (Video Game) / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 MegaRace (Video Game) / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Video Game) / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway
 The Jetsons / int_cdb754f9
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Futuristic Superhighway
 The Ultimate Enemy / int_cdb754f9
type
Futuristic Superhighway