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That prompted me to do an Internet search on the topic of "traffic engineering," which turns out to be one of those fake engineering fields, like calling garbage collectors "sanitation engineers" or calling stay-at-home moms "domestic engineers."
I found this statement to be remarkable because I work everyday with people are both real engineers and traffic engineers. I don't know which Internet she used, but the one Google uses has plenty of information about "traffic engineering" that leaves no doubt that traffic engineering is a real engineering field.
Wikipedia says "Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. It focuses mainly on research and construction of the immobile infrastructure necessary for this movement, such as roads, railway tracks, bridges, traffic signs and traffic lights."
There is a special professional certification for the Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) is (according to Wikipedia) "a certification sponsored by the Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc., and promulgated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Prior to taking the required exam, an individual must be a licensed professional engineer and also have at least four years of professional traffic engineering experience prior to taking the exam, though academic experience may be substituted for the working experience requirement."
Traffic engineers are sometimes called 'transportation engineers' as in the Institute of Transportation Engineers -- ITE. These are the folks who set the design standards for such things as how much traffic a 2-lane road should carry before it is expanded, when traffic signals are warranted, and a myriad of other traffic-related matters.
If you still don't believe me, try reading this thing: the Florida DOT's Traffic Engineering Manual!
Why do you hate Sunny? I wouldn't call Sunny a close friend or confidant, but I would say that I am an acquaintance. We certainly don't cross paths regularly, but perhaps in passing, seasonally. Once, a long time ago, I may have had the chance to be a good friend, but of course, her good friend, Phil McDade, stood in the way of that.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, Sunny isn't all that far left of center, as you imply. I went to those Winnequah Road meetings.
They were beautiful, in and of themselves.
Little did we know that it was just a ruse. Something to satisfy us until they did what they really wanted to do, which had nothing to do with what we wanted, which has ended up a never-ending speedway.
Anyways, go easy on Sunny. She is a brave journalist - after all, she goes where I would not dare. Clearly, I am a wimp in this regard. I have to live here to much longer, and without lake frontage. So, I will not expose myself. But, I will anonymously align myself with Sunny on this one, and rue the day that she left Capital Newspapers.
Anyways, what's a good old conservative like me doing living in Monona anyways??
I suspect that Ms. Schubert is avoiding 'political correctness' where anything some college or university will license or degree is acceptable to'liberals'. The university is infested with socialists and communists who want to 'engineer' the liberal world order.
ReplyDeleteI knew a traffic engineer who did his masters thesis on the left turn. Is this ideological engineering?
What Monona are you living in?
ReplyDelete"Why do you hate Sunny?" OK, I've said it before and I guess I have to say it again. Sunny and I can disagree without hating each other. I think she's a lot of fun. Her line about the logo in this week's column was hilarious.
Anyway, she just her facts wrong about traffic engineers and I really do work with professional traffic engineers everyday. It's a real specialty within civil engineering.
"Sunny isn't all that far left of center, as you imply." Huh?? You think Sunny is left of center?!
The Winnequah Road meetings were "just a ruse" and then "they did what they really wanted to do". That is just not true and a dumb conspiracy theory. There was quite the dispute at the council on what things to leave in and take out and almost all the voites were split. And we get our chops busted constantly for the only non-standard design feature, the bump outs, which were put in to hold down speed. We put in the marked bike lanes.
"I may have had the chance to be a good friend, but of course, her good friend, Phil McDade, stood in the way of that." Don't say 'of course' when no one has any possible idea what you are talking about. I consider both Phil and Sunny my friends, so I guess Phil missed that one. What are you talking about?