Take a Closer Look—Part 2

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist  "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." — The Wizard of Oz Last time I gave some examples where engineers didn't even bother to make excuses. They wrote a deficient report and hoped nobody ...

Take a Closer Look—Part I

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "Where's the beef?" — Wendy's advertising slogan c. 1984 Last time I wrote generally about the difference between public relations and engineering. This is the first of a series of closer looks. Before trying to distinguish PR ...

Making Excuses

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "49 reasons, all in a line, all of them good ones, all of them lies" -- Stephen Stills Is there a communications major in the house? A major job of a government traffic engineer is justifying somebody ...

Right for the Wrong Reason

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." -- Han Solo (Nerd rage) -- Astronomers everywhere Victory? Last year an Ohio appeals court threw out evidence from a laser gun. Police were ...

Turning the Tables

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."-- Scott McNealy, 1999 License plate scanners are in the news. Politicians like them because they catch people who haven't paid taxes. Police departments like them because they turn legwork ...

The Myth of Dedicated Revenue Streams

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "You have to have tax revenues to make it happen" -- James Parker on infrastructure improvement Once a friend asked for a donation to help a girl he knew. She was homeless, pregnant, and broke and ...

Who Plows Your Roads?

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "I wanna race in a bigfoot truck." -- Mojo Nixon Last year the director of Massachusetts DOT District 3 was abruptly fired. Later he and others were indicted and have pleaded not guilty to fraud and ...

A Permanent Temporary Source of Funding

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." -- Rahm Emanuel A reporter found the next manufactured crisis that will allow Massachusetts to keep collecting Turnpike tolls more than 30 years after the road was supposed ...

Does Your Car Make More Than You?

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist I have been reading The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup. I'll have more to say about the book later. I want to answer a question implied by the book's title: how much does ...

Lying Black Boxes And The Truths They Tell

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist Last November, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray was out surveying storm damage when his car hit black ice on I-190 and slid off the road. It was just an accident. He was sober and obeying ...