It is worth noting that road building does not exist in a vacuum. It is one of the systems that exists with many others, and assessing what influences as well as affects these interconnected groups happens to be known as systems thinking.
On Southern New Hampshire University’s- SNHU website, it is stated that systems thinking is about going ahead and investigating what set of elements and interactions happen to be contributing to or could as well contribute to a possible outcome. This is opined by the deputy director of collaborative learning and strategic insight at the school, Steve Brown. Systems thinking is indeed useful when it comes to helping teams become more well versed in how they are interacting with each other and within the team, and it also enables them to understand the outcomes that they are producing, adds Brown.
Taking this absolute approach to business, organization, crews, and even the design of roads happens to be having a broad amount of applicability. The  associate dean of business programs at SNHU, Christina Dumeng, says that thinking with regards to the impact of any system as it goes on to relate to the decision-making happens to be important when it comes to understanding the wider scope of how all the pieces in the organization go on to connect.
From Institution to Application
One instance of systems thinking within the asphalt production, which is a very complex system in and of itself, is the aggregate sourcing. Think about production when it comes to asphalt at the plant as one system. All the factors contained within the plant itself are a part of it. The source of aggregates is yet another outside system that changes in regulation, ecology conditions, permission, availability, reclaimed asphalt pavement- RAP usage, quality, etc. and can, all of a sudden and without warning, go on to affect the internal asphalt production system.
The more you go ahead and grasp how systems such as these create a big paradigm, the more it can go on to mean the difference between efficiency and profitability; however, in some ways, it can go on to mean the difference between even more significant things. Inversely, so as to ignore the way these forces go ahead and interact does not negate the power of influence.
While prominent investments often happen to be made on the front-end of the industry systems like materials, training, production, efficiency, etc., there is not as much attention which is paid to the back-end systems, which is like what happens thereafter. What are the systems that the product goes on to impact? The communities. Infrastructure goes on to influence not only the economic futures of a city or even a town; it also happens to be having a material effect on the people’s lives who live in the aftermath.
Comprehending the industry’s place within the broader scope of the systems at work in their communities’ infrastructure goes on to mean being a responsible actor within it. In order to become more aware of how things one builds go on to play a role in the community’s economic health and the wellbeing of its people, one must reckon with its past so as to ensure a future that’s much better.
The ties that go on to bind
In July, 2023, a report called Divided By Design went ahead and even detailed damage caused because of low-income and communities of color due to the federal highway program.
A press release rolled out by Smart Growth North America, which happens to be a national nonprofit that works towards the issues of land use, transportation, as well as economic development policy, went on to explain that by way of novel analysis, the report goes ahead and illustrates the historic inequities that happen to be created by and in federal transportation programs, goes on to evaluate how the present practices continue to exacerbate the inequities today, and shares recommendations for a new approach towards transportation that leads to outcomes that are equitable.
These are not baseless or just ideological concepts. A bipartisan congress went on to build $1 billion into the Inflation Reduction Act-IRA for the Reconnecting Communities program, which happens to be the first federal program of its kind, that tacitly as well as explicitly took into account the role of the inter-state system when it comes to creating historic inequities throughout the country.
It is well to be noted that the response to the program has been very positive. Overall, 435 project proposals were submitted across 48 different states, including America, Samoa, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The total funding contained within these requests happened to be in excess of $2 billion, thereby doubling the entirety of the program’s budget all through 2026. Out of these 435 proposals, 45 got the approval in 2023, and they were all set to receive the first tranche of funding to the tune of $185 million. These awards go ahead and break down into 39 planning grants as well as 6 capital construction grants.
The Biden administration that initially wanted a massive $20 billion for this program, which might as well be extreme, except for the huge response, which seems to indicate that the first figure happened to be much closer to the real level of need.
It is indeed a huge step forward so as to recognize both mistakes done and the damage created in the past, thereby also setting aside money so as to try as well as fix those problems, opined VP of transportation strategy as well as assistant VP at Smart Growth, Steven Davis. It is just like one is trying to fill back in a hole with a teaspoon that happened to be dug out because of an excavator. It is indeed not going to make a meaningful dent within a problem that is still being created; however, it is indeed a step towards the right direction.
But it is sort of endemic to the way the Congress tries to go ahead and solve problems within transportation, which can create small new programs so as to address the issues that are still being addressed by way of the bulk of the large programs. For instance, one happens to be in the middle of displacing 600-800 people across Houston, TX, in order to widen I-45. That is not that different from what was done in the 1960s.
All this kind of investment, the program itself, as well as the speeches made about it, happen to be worthless if, on the opposite side, the very same methods that got someone here in the first place get carried on, coming up with the next generation’s burden when it comes to correction. The fact is that, so as to process a real change, the methodologies have to change.
To really comprehend what has to change and why, we need to have a new taxonomy. A new set of definitions when it comes to work that road building as well as infrastructure does.
Rethinking the Old ClassificationsÂ
Davis goes on to believe that part of the problem happens to lie in the very way that the government discusses infrastructure. They are indeed fond of saying that things such as highways are assets, but they actually aren’t assets. They happen to be liabilities, and as one treats them as assets when it comes to the balance sheet, they should be treated as liabilities.
Davis went on to say how the systems used in the yesteryears went on to directly influence the systems that exist now.
It is well to be noted that the models, measures, along with the standards that all transportation agencies use today weren’t created whole cloth in the 2000s or even in the 2010s. Apparently, they all have their roots within the systems, models, as well as the measures from the 1960s. In today’s times, one can have the best intentions possible, but if one doesn’t make use of the broken tools, damage is going to happen, and there will be broken pieces all around.
Measure what really matters
The state DOTs should go ahead and measure access to daily needs. It is well to be noted that the daily work commute has forever been the only metric that is taken into consideration in terms of time savings, and it is time to expand that data by way of making use of modern technology so as to include and even measure all trips. This would enable a more precise view of the overall transportation picture. The question arises as to how the infrastructure, or may be the potential infrastructure, will go ahead and impact the way people think when we talk about a specific community. Before new or expanded roadways can be built, the adverse impacts on economic as well as housing situations must be taken into consideration: the losses within business, tax, housing or property values, etc. Moreover, the public transportation system when it comes to a specific zone should be measured and also compared across its total performance and its performance when it comes to marginalized communities.
Learn from what has taken place instead of repeating it
The historic damages that have been done and probably briefly mentioned must not be perpetuated more. Apparently, more money from this point onwards should be spent dedicated to connecting communities in equitable forms that don’t, in any way, cut off others. Lastly, one of the biggest changes has to be a shift away from creating novel highways or may even expanding the existing ones, and a shift in funding as well as attention when it comes to repairing as well as maintaining the existing structures.
Prioritize safety over speed
The fact is that the federal government has gone ahead and invested a massive amount of money as well as resources within the roadway safety under the Vision Zero initiative. However, traffic deaths continue to take place in the wrong direction from a statistical point of view. There are loads of reasons for that, which apparently do not pertain to the road building sector; however, the aspect of safety is not involved with regards to engineered safety designs that go on to promote traffic calming, enhanced crosswalks, and other varied models that go ahead and prioritize safety over speed. The just-updated Manual pertaining to Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways- MUTCD, happens to make some critical leaps forward with regards to this and will now get updated on a more frequent schedule.
Examine land use as well as transportation together
Information on how the land use goes on to effect transportation, and probably the other way around, should get pretty easier to access as well as integrate throughout the design and decision-making process. The federal government could very well create certain methods as well as tools that go ahead and measure such interconnected impacts in addition to updating land-use as well as zoning regulations that take into consideration people’s access when it comes to essential jobs and services, in case they drive a car, make use of public transit, or even walk. So what does that mean? It is well to be noted that there happen to be certain fairly archaic zoning laws that go on to prevent or limit the construction of certain housing forms in certain areas. It is well to be noted that a multi-use zoning approach can very well improve access when it comes to transit, services, as well as economic activation.
