My state’s DOT measures success by Vehicle Miles Traveled. The more driving people do, the better the DOT is doing. Sprawl? Line goes up! One more lane? Line goes up!
Honestly, that would explain a lot about why state DOTs are often so garbage. Sounds like a good example of Goodhart’s law:
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
In this case, trying to use VMT as a measure of success just means they’ll favor projects that needlessly sprawl, instead of more compact or transit-oriented options.
My state’s DOT measures success by Vehicle Miles Traveled. The more driving people do, the better the DOT is doing. Sprawl? Line goes up! One more lane? Line goes up!
Honestly, that would explain a lot about why state DOTs are often so garbage. Sounds like a good example of Goodhart’s law:
In this case, trying to use VMT as a measure of success just means they’ll favor projects that needlessly sprawl, instead of more compact or transit-oriented options.