Exploring the Conflict Between Safety and Capacity in Traffic Engineering

Because it has the word “engineering” right in there, the field of traffic engineering is something most people assume is governed by science and rational rules. But a new book, written by a traffic engineer himself, argues that is not the case at all. In Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion That Science Underlies Our Transportation System, Wes Marshall — a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver — says that the idea that the design of our transportation system is based on science couldn't be further from the truth. By examining a century's worth of history, studies, old professional journals and current standards, Marshall argues that his colleagues need to do some deep soul searching about the rules they follow so that they no longer design a system that kills tens of thousands of people per year.

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This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. 

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