Nov 18 2008
While we Wait
In lieu of a podcast, try clicking through to some artistic and striking crosswalks.
Nov 18 2008
A Post! (in which I suck)
Alas, Monday has come and gone. No podcast. My listeners are going to start to think I don’t care. But, I do care.
Update: Episode 26 is roughed and needs to be vetted and recorded. Further Update: Ironman training is kicking my butt. There’s not much time left in the evenings for anything besides spending time with my wife and making dinner. I expect that I’ll get used to this level of physical output in a few weeks but for now if I don’t get the podcast done on the weekend, it’ll probably have to wait ’til the next one.
Nov 10 2008
Whoa Baby! Post Coming! Hardware Issues!
Hey there everybody!
Yes, I’m still podcasting. Yes, there’s more Talking Traffic coming! No, I have no good excuse.
Although if you care to know the reason, it’s because of hardware envy.
Through several editions of Talking Traffic, I became dissatisfied with the sound quality I was getting from my microphone setup. There were some transient popping noises that were inescapable due to the equipment I was using (Logitech Headset). As both myself and my wife are podcasting, plus I’ve been asked a couple times to record for Podcastle, we decided that the move to a more professional arrangement was called for.
Thus began 8 weeks of really annoying activity. The upshot of this annoyance is that I couldn’t get any of the audio interfaces I was buying to hook up to my computer and work. In case you’re in the market for a Presonus Firebox, do not believe the standard “plug and play” crap. For some people, it works just fine, but for others, including myself, it’s an interminable fight with hardware incompatibilities that you don’t learn about until searching through the forums. So far, most of the help from Presonus has been in the form of “try this and tell me if it works” which I find a pain.
So, I’m giving up on the Firebox. Anyone want to buy it? It’s in perfectly good shape, but my computers don’t like it.
For now, I’m borrowing another I/O from a friend, so I can state with confidence1 that there will be podcast this weekend. I’m thinking that Transportation Finance, in the context of the economic crash, is a good topic.
1Of course, my confidence has now doomed me because I haven’t confirmed the compatibility of this borrowed equipment yet. Anyone want to take a bet about whether it will work when I set it up tonight?
Sep 09 2008
Episode 25 - Highway Interchanges and SPUIs
Sep 08 2008
Speed Limit Discuss at the Whatever
Aug 21 2008
Stop Signs By Committee
If stop signs had been designed by committee, this is probably what you would get.
Aug 19 2008
Fail Blog & Signage
Fail Blog is a compilation of user-submitted images and videos with the colloquial title of “Fail”. If you don’t know what that means, I suggest perusing the latest postings and it will become obvious.
Signage is often a topic. This one just came up and I find it horribly amusing. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is all too common.
Warning: A great deal of the subject matter on Fail Blog is not safe for work. This particular link is fine, however
Aug 18 2008
Episode 24 - National Traffic Signal Report Card
Topics: National Traffic Signal Report Card, 2007 Fataliity Rates, ITE Annual Meeting
Continue Reading »
Aug 01 2008
Benefit/Cost Ratios
One of the more frustrating parts of my day job is when a project requires the calculation of a Benefit/Cost ratio. This ratio is simple in concept: add up all the financial benefits of a project including the projected reductions in congestion, crashes, etc. and divide it by the amortized total cost of the project. This is a tool for evaluating whether a project is worth building. For example, if I’m proposing a project that is going to cost $1 million but it only provides the benefit of $1/2 million than the B/C ratio is 0.5. We’re getting only a 50% return on our investment, therefore don’t build it! Easy, right? Maybe. Let’s talk about where the numbers come from.
Calculating the project cost is the easy part (easy, even if it’s occasionally inaccurate due to unforseen circumstances and rising material prices). Calculating the projected financial benefits of a project can be straightforward, too, if it’s intended as a congestion relief project; there is plenty of documentation concerning reductions in delay time vs. financial benefit. Things are a bit murkier when trying to assemble a financial benefit to projected reductions in collisions because it’s hard to say whether a reduction (or increase) in collision rate is due to a project or not. Lastly, it’s nearly impossible to calculate the benefit (or impact) of a road project on the surrounding business and homes. There are broad overarching assumptions, but they are at best a WAG1. This is why I cringe every time I’m requested to include a B/C ratio on a project. On non-capacity projects (projects that aren’t adding roadway lanes) it’s very difficult to achieve a B/C ratio of greater than 1.0 which is the assumed benchmark when someone asks for that number.
The reason for all this ramp-up is because of a news report yesterday morning in Atlanta. The Georgia Dept. of Transportation is shutting down all constructions projects (with a few exceptions) within 5 miles of a shopping mall or other retail center from Thursday to Sunday to allow for the Sales Tax holiday that Georgia is having this weekend.
My question, and I admittedly have NO CLUE, is whether the B/C ratio for this proposed work stoppage is greater than 1.0? Sure, there will be less congestion during the weekend, but does this really improve the bottom line for the taxpayer? The contractors are going to figure the cost of a 4 day work stoppage into the project cost, so it might end up at the end that this Tax Holiday congestion relief program will actually cost the state, therefore the taxpayers, more than the congestion would have.
Unfortunately, you’d have to make so many assumptions and WAGs that it’s probably impossible to say with any certainty one way or the other. It’s an interesting thought experiment, though.
1 WAG is a technical acronym standing for “Wild Ass Guess”.
