The Public Relations Committee is now focusing most of its efforts on addressing the “Traffic Engineer Bashing” issue.  The Committee members have been discussing what people/factors shaped their own approaches to traffic engineering and it is apparent that many attitudes are shaped by circumstances.  For example, the people who worked in a multi-modal focused environment early in their careers were most likely to approach problems with all modes in mind, whereas those that worked for a group that had a singular focus of minimizing delay to cars were most likely to stay “car-centric”.  The melding of traffic and multi-modal planning in many public agencies appears to be a big reason as to why the approach of many traffic engineers has changed over the past several decades.

The Committee’s next step is to outline a research approach for a “white paper” on the subject.  The process is expected to include many interviews with traffic engineers and perhaps a survey, as well as discussions with municipalities and the general public who have this misconception.  The white paper will document what the misconceptions exist, state what the reality of how traffic engineers approach problems is, and suggest ways to inform the public of this reality and help change their perceptions.  The implementation plan will include publication of a technical paper and submission of press releases, both based on the white paper.  The Committee also hopes that other ITE districts and ITE international leadership will help take up the cause, with the Western District leading the way.

Chuck Huffine, Western District Public Relations Committee Chair