Traffic Calming Resources: How to Handle Speeding
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE We recently completed our annual MikeOnTraffic reader survey. In the survey we asked readers what their biggest challenge is, and our readers didn’t hold back! We received a wide range of challenges that transportation engineers face daily. Over the next several months we are going to post resources for our […]
An Argument for Rapid Adoption of Autonomous Vehicles
Mike Spack, PE, PTOE Tom Fischer made an interesting argument at the City Engineers Association of Minnesota annual meeting that the switch to autonomous vehicles will be like the transition from horses to cars that happened in the early Twentieth Century. It took about twenty years for horses to become illegal in cities but that […]
Traffic Impact Study Process – Part 2: Preliminary Assessment
Mike Spack and Bryant Ficek have literally written a book about Traffic Impact Studies and the process from authorization to final study. We present the information we wish we had when starting our careers and hopefully have tips and refreshers that even experienced traffic engineers will find useful. This series presents the basic steps of […]
Traffic Impact Study Process – Part 1: Assumptions to Reviewers
Mike Spack and Bryant Ficek have literally written a book about Traffic Impact Studies and the process from authorization to final study. We present the information we wish we had when starting our careers and hopefully have tips and refreshers that even experienced traffic engineers will find useful. This series presents the basic steps of […]
Designing for All Modes of Travel
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE I attended a North Central Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers section meeting in 2009. It was a panel discussion on “Complete Streets.” The general idea is to balance service to private vehicles, transit users, bicycles, and pedestrians through the design of our transportation systems. Traditionally, vehicles have been […]
Traffic Corner Tuesday – Sharing Traffic Engineering Knowledge One Webinar at a Time
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE Starting MikeOnTraffic in 2007 seemed very cutting edge at the time, but blogs became commonplace, and there have been several online innovations since then. Our mission at Spack Enterprises is to “Improve Transportation Globally”, so we routinely think about how we can reach more people or share our knowledge more […]
Mike On Traffic’s 10th Anniversary
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE It’s hard for me to believe I’ve been blogging for ten years. More than 8,000 people worldwide visit Mike On Traffic each month, and I’ve posted more than 760 articles. The Institute of Transportation Engineers’ monthly magazine typically has four articles, delivered to about 15,000 members. With two articles posted […]
Control Devices: Stop Signs Benefits, Limitations and Design Guidelines
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE Stop signs are the cheapest traffic control devices for controlling traffic at an intersection. This post provides background, benefits, limitations, design guidelines, and further resources for designing stop sign installations. Background The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (jargon: MUTCD) governs the use of all traffic control devices in the […]
Case Study: School Traffic Control Plan
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE About a decade ago I helped my kids’ parochial grade school develop a pick-up/drop-off procedure. The principal has moved on and sent me the following email on August 24th: “we are in need of some help with our traffic flow at both the beginning and the end of the school […]
Access Management Primer
By Mike Spack, PE, PTOE Access management is the practice of limiting driveway or street intersections to reduce crash rates and congestion. This post provides background, benefits, limitations, guidelines, and further resources for using access management. Background of Access Management Access management began in the United States in 1906 when the Supreme Court ruled in […]
