J.C. Shepard’s Reviews > Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System > Status Update

“Most people would say transportation is about moving people and goods from point A to point B… But at its core, transport is about connecting people, goods, services, and activities….
If transportation is about access, reducing traffic congestion is just one of many possible solutions. Focusing on the wrong goal leads us astray.”

How Much Is Your Life Worth?
“In 1975, the USDOT estimated a a life as being worth $1.4 million in today’s dollars. When the USDOT value of life reached $2.5 million in 1998, it suddenly made sense to (add more safety measures)….The USDOT now uses $11.8 million. Interestingly, every federal agency seems to value life differently.”

“Killed by a Traffic Engineer?
…What traffic engineers are guilty of is creating a transportation system whose designs remain largely based on plausible, but unproven, conjecture.”

“Misidentified priorities lead right into how we mismeasure transportation… At best, we can sat that we have conflicting objectives in transportation. Sure, traffic engineers want to improve safety, but before doing so, we want to minimize congestion, maximize mobility, minimize costs, and so on.
Safety is never first on the list.”

“More Americans [have] died on US roads than in all US conflicts combined, including the American Revolution.”