Raise the Hammer

andanotherthing...the engineers aren't setting the policies, they're doing what they have been told/asked to do.

With respect to the definition of traffic engineering, Ryan you're incorrect. One of the main definitions of traffic engineering is "a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods". The engineering techniques used are the geometric designs etc. It's the lack of attention to the effects that efficient movement of people/goods has on the livability of the environment that the roadway is being built in that causes the problem... That however is NOT an engineer's responsibility. An engineer in this case would be given the task to design a roadway built to handle X amount of traffic. Perhaps engineering practices need to change (and I believe they should) to include the larger picture, however it still remains the client's responsibility to determine the define the parameters and in this case, the "client" is the City. The roadway is actually designed by outside engineers and the city engineers approve the design. So if we're talking about engineers in general, they aren't responsible anything other than their design but if we're talking about City engineers, it SHOULD be their responsibility to ensure that the design they're approving promotes the best for the City.

Arguably a point could be made that if the above is the definition used, bicycle lanes and sidewalks should receive equal consideration in the design of a roadway however, once again, the priorities are set by the client not the engineer.

What I'm trying to get at here is that the public is the end user and therefore the client. We've chosen politicians to represent us and it's their duty to ensure that any direction taken is beneficial to the public and not select groups (at the same time it's our duty to ensure that they are aware of what we want). One way they should be doing this is to become involved in the consultation and design phase of our roadways...

RE: BZ - You are chasing your tail... You say that Dave can't pass judgement on Bill Kelly or his wife and yet you're doing the same to him. The fact that your insults were exceedingly defamatory and childish was and is completely uncalled for. Next time you plan on exposing someone as a fool you should take the high road rather than jumping into the pile of poo you're using as ammunition.

Comment edited by frank on 2010-06-11 14:02:44