Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
CEQA

The Sinister Logic of Old-School Traffic Engineering, in XtraNormal

There is a strange world where up is down, in is out, right is wrong, and black is white. I'm not just talking about the San Francisco Planning Department's indefensible trip-generation analysis for new parking spaces.

No, I mean the world of old-school traffic engineers, where improving safety on the streets means reducing conflicts with cars (you know, like pesky pedestrians), widening lanes and softening turning radii to allow traffic to move more freely. This is the world of Caltrans, for one, and it's antithetical to making your city more livable.

Though the state has started to reform its highway and street design guidelines, city planners throughout the Bay Area can attest to the difficulty of adding bus bulbs, traffic calming or bicycle infrastructure in the face of engineers with their traffic bibles telling them there is no such thing as an acceptable green bike lane.

This excellent XtraNormal cartoon, which was produced by Strong Towns, lays out the problem, complete with jargon that will make your head spin.

If you have eight minutes and a wonky sense of humor/indignation, I recommend you watch. If eight minutes seems like a long time, imagine going up against these guys for a decade to reverse the violent upheaval perpetrated on your neighborhood decades prior in the name of progress.

Gives me chills.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Streetsblog Honors Cesar Chavez Day

Streetsblog Los Angeles, Streetsblog San Francisco, and Streetsblog California are off today to recognize Cesar Chavez Day. We will return to normal publication tomorrow.

March 31, 2025

Two Marin News Items: One Bike Lane Saved, Another Needs Built

Saved at least for now. Two big stories from Marin (and Richmond!)

March 28, 2025

Commentary: It’s Nice Not to Worry About the Rising Costs of Cars

Don't you wish you didn't have to think so much about tariffs and what it's going to do to the cost of car ownership?

March 28, 2025
See all posts