The State of Traffic Engineering

Abstract

The traffic engineering profession today is not doing an effective job of fulfilling its primary mission. This paper will discuss current problem areas within the profession, issues being exacerbated by those problem areas, some of the flawed arterial and corridor planning processes occurring, and, finally, proposed solutions will be presented. I believe our profession needs renewal and to improve the status and state of traffic engineering. There is some evidence of these problems nationally. In 2007, the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) prepared the National Traffic Signal Report Card. The coalition gave a grade of D for the overall management of traffic signal maintenance and operations by public agencies. The grade was so low because most agencies having no proactive management of traffic signal maintenance and operations. It was nearly identical to the report card prepared in 2005, with some agencies showing improvement (NTOC 2007). We are fighting fires with minimal resources. Some of the problem can be traced to a lack of knowledge and advocacy by the traffic engineering profession. A small increase in resources could make a dramatic improvement in traffic signal operations. The 2009 Urban Mobility Report prepared by the Texas Transportation Institute reported that “[c]ongestion is a problem in America’s 439 urban areas and it is getting worse in regions of all sizes. In 2007, congestion caused urban Americans to travel 4.2 billion hours more and to purchase an extra 2.8 billion gallons of fuel for a congestion cost of $87.2 billion—an increase of more than 50% over the previous decade.” (Schrank and Lomax 2009). We are paying a heavy price for how the traffic engineering profession is being conducted.