Robert Steuteville takes issue with a recent report on NPR's Marketplace by noted Economist Steven Levitt that concluded that driving while drunk is safer than walking while drunk.
Moral and legal implications aside, Steuteville takes issue with the premise behind the piece's analysis, "the conclusion of Levitt and Dubner is flat-out wrong. Nobody is going to walk 5 or 10 miles to a bar, but they will drive there. The average walking trip is a quarter mile or less. The average driving trip is 6-12 miles, according to the National Household Travel Survey."
"It goes without saying that the average drunk driving trip is significantly more dangerous to the driver than the average drunk walking trip to the pedestrian. The use of the per-mile basis is inappropriate and misleading - and these commentators should know that."
Read the full story: Drunk? Safer to drive than walk, says economist
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority