New research on the supposedly irrational patterns of behavior by drivers shows that bad driving decisions are predictable.
Transportation planners and engineers are beginning to draw upon psychological experiments cataloguing irrational patterns of behavior-as well as their own experience about real world travel-to find creative ways to discourage roadway antics and other bad travel choices and improve infrastructure design.
Their efforts are part of a wider movement by the new academic discipline of behavioral economics, established in the early 1990s, which is exploring how to factor "the human factor" into the computer models and decision processes used in financial markets, the transportation sector and other fields. There are tantalizing indications these efforts to understand and harness the quirks of human nature can help speed progress towards improved safety, energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions and achievement of other goals.
Thanks to S. Hague
Read the full story: Behavioral Economics Offers Insights and Strategies for Improving Transportation
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
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City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello