Editor's Notes
Along the Road
Internet Watch
Recent
Publications
Calendar
NHI Update
Order Online
Contact Info
Past Issues
Public Roads
Home
|
Editor's Notes
Hitting
the Curves
In many ways, life is like
baseball. Although we'd prefer all the pitches (opportunities) to be "right down
the middle," every good hitter has to be able to hit a curve ball. To be
consistently successful, a hitter has to anticipate what is going to be thrown
at him/her, be ready to take a swing, be willing to take a risk, be talented
enough to hit the ball, and be strong enough to hit it hard.
If you don't swing at the
good pitches because you're waiting for the perfect pitch, you'll strike out.
And there's another danger. One can become so lulled by letting all the pitches
go by that he won't recognizes the perfect pitch until it's too late to take a
swing.
It is necessary to swing
hard to get a solid hit and, in particular, to hit a home run. Of course,
sometimes you miss. But even the most prolific home run hitters strike out
sometimes, and I believe that in life -- just as in baseball -- you gain more
respect by taking a healthy swing and missing than by accepting a "called" third
strike with the bat on your shoulder.
So, what's this have to do
with the business of the Federal Highway Administration and with highway
research and technology? Recently, I have recognized that all around me there
are people who are anticipating the future, who are willing to take a reasonable
and calculated risk, and who are taking a hard swing with the confidence that
they are talented enough to hit the pitch. These folks include colleagues at the
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center who are accepting new challenges and
researchers who are putting a tremendous effort into doing the most good with
their limited budgets. These are people who are courageous enough to attempt new
things or to do things differently even though they know that new ideas usually
disturb the status quo.
The articles in this issue
of Public Roads are about successful programs and people taking a swing at the status
quo. Bob Skinner of the Transportation Research Board takes a turn in the
batter's box by anticipating "Transportation in the 21st Century." Skinner
presents a broad view of transportation as a driver of change, and then he makes
"some observations about proposals, options, and alternative visions that have
been offered for transportation in the future." Several articles discuss
developments and innovations that resulted in improved air quality and
strategies for continuing the progress. Mark Swanlund's article lays out FHWA's
efforts "to significantly improve the measured smoothness of the major highways
in this country by 2008." LANI, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, is a
program that is using transportation projects to help revitalize old
neighborhoods. "Measuring Economic Impacts of Federal-Aid Highway Projects"
explains the direct, indirect, and induced employment effects of the economic
stimulus provided by federal-aid projects. "ITS Peer-to-Peer Program" describes
a new way of providing technical assistance, and Richard Weingroff tells us why
the two men who conceived the Interstate Highway System -- Thomas H. MacDonald
and Herbert S. Fairbank -- believed it could resolve many urban problems.
As you can read in
Weingroff's article, things didn't work out exactly as MacDonald and Fairbank
planned; nevertheless, they were men of great vision and courage. They are among
the great transportation all-stars because they swung at the good pitches and
they were able to hit the curve balls thrown at them.
Bob
Bryant
Editor
Articles & Departments
The Genie in the Bottle
LANI & the Leimert Park Project
Enhancing Pavement Smoothness
Surviving the Turbulance
Strategic Plan for Transportation & Air Quality Research
Atlanta & "Conforms" to Clean Air Requirements
Measuring Economic Impacts of Federal-Aid Highway Projects
Transportation in the 21st Century
|
