TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS QUESTION USE OF COMMON PRACTICES & METRICS

-> This month, for at least the second time in a year, the Institute of Transportation Engineers has challenged its members to rethink common practices and metrics that are often thought of as objective and unbiased, but that convey values that arent necessarily in line with the greater public interest. In particular, these values emphasize the movement of vehicles above all other interests.

In an op-ed for this months ITE Journal (<a href="http://bit.ly/1yUOu8l">http://bit.ly/1yUOu8l</a>;), Jason DeGray, a licensed engineer and a member of the groups advocacy committee... argues that conventional approaches to engineering, developed over years of outward suburban growth, are particularly biased toward motorized road users--most noticeably in urban areas.

A feature article in the ITE Journals August 2014 issue, titled Decisions, Values, and Data: Understanding Bias in Transportation Performance Measures (<a href="http://bit.ly/1CeAI1D">http://bit.ly/1CeAI1D</a>;), gives an example of one such metric--level of service--explains precisely how it reflects values and biases inherent to transportation design... [<a href="http://bit.ly/1c5G4WK">http://bit.ly/1c5G4WK</a>;]