Failing Road Infrastructure

And How it is to Be Improved

Overview of 1. Explanation of the Topic
Presentation:

2. Issue From the Topic

3. Proposal of the Solution

Definition;
Infrastructure:

Infrastructure: “the basic structure of an

organization or system which is necessary for its
operation, esp. public water, energy, and systems
for communication and transport”

(INFRASTRUCTURE | Definition in the Cambridge

English Dictionary, n.d.)
Importance of
Infrastructure: ● Considerable impact on
road safety (World Health
Organization, 2022)

● Unsafe conditions can be

critical to those traveling
on roads
 ● 40% of America’s roads - mediocre or poor

Current Conditions condition

(Key Facts about the Condition, Performance and

of Road Funding the U.S. Surface Transportation System ,

2022)

Infrastructure:
Dangers of Poor Pothole: “a hole in a road surface that
Infrastructure: results from gradual damage caused
by traffic and/or weather,” (Cambridge
Dictionary, 2023)

● the cause of 3,597 deaths and

about 25,000 injuries in India in
2017 (Dhillon, 2018)
○ ~10 deaths a day
Dangers of Poor
Infrastructure
● A fatal collision in England, killing two,
caused by a “deteriorated” road surface

(cont.): (Northamptonshire Road Needs Fixing after

Two Deaths - Coroner, 2023)

● Surge of traffic deaths within Washington

(Balk, 2022)
○ Washington State: No.1 worst state
for potholes in America (Wulfeck,
2022)
Proposal of Solution: Implement teleworking to
lower traffic load on roads
Solution:

● dense road traffic: one of the underlying

causes of potholes and road infrastructure
deterioration (CORDIS | European
Commission, 2023)
Reasoning of Rush-hour: “a period of the day when
the demands especially of traffic or
Solution: business are at a peak”
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2023)

Teleworking Conditions:
● Congestion during peak commute
hours (rush hour) are
considerably lower (Loo & Huang,
2022)
● teleworking does lead to reduced
travel demand and a lower rate of
congestion (Elldér, 2020)
Support of ● 81% of teleworkers would prefer
to work from home permanently,
Teleworking: or adopt a hybrid schedule (Survey
Shows Professionals Excelled
While Working from Home, 2021)
● Would rather work from home,
despite missing colleagues
Conclusion and Teleworking:

Summary: ● Reduces overall traffic and

congestion
○ Lowers stress and deterioration
on roads and road
infrastructure
○ Lowering deterioration largely
improves the safety of road
conditions
● Already has support by a multitude
of businesses and professionals
● Though not a definitive solution, can
still help relieve one of the largest
issues to road safety
References:
Balk, G. (2022, September 13). WA among worst states for surge in traffic deaths. The Seattle Times.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/wa-among-worst-states-for-surge-in-traffic-deaths/

Cambridge Dictionary. (2023, May 10). pothole. @CambridgeWords.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/pothole?q=potholes

CORDIS | European Commission. (2023, September 30). Europa.eu.

https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/442161-solving-europe-s-pothole-problem

Dhillon, A. (2018, July 24). “More deadly than terrorism”: potholes responsible for killing 10 people a day in

India. The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/25/more-deadly-than-terrorism-potholes-responsible-fo

r-killing-10-people-a-day-in-india

Elldér, E. (2020). Telework and daily travel: New evidence from Sweden. Journal of Transport Geography, 86,

102777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102777

INFRASTRUCTURE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Dictionary.cambridge.org.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/infrastructure

Key facts about the condition, performance and funding the U.S. surface transportation system . (2022). National

Transportation Research Nonprofit.

https://tripnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Transportation-Funding-Fact-Sheet-March-2022.pdf

Loo, B. P. Y., & Huang, Z. (2022). Spatio-temporal variations of traffic congestion under work from home

(WFH) arrangements: Lessons learned from COVID-19. National Library of Medicine, 103610.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103610
References (cont.):
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2023, May 5). Merriam-Webster.com.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rush%20hour

Northamptonshire road needs fixing after two deaths - coroner. (2023, March 24). BBC

News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3g5x2gqy8po

Roads quality in Europe. (n.d.). TheGlobalEconomy.com.

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/roads_quality/Europe/

Survey Shows Professionals Excelled While Working from Home. (2021, March 25).

Harvard Business School.

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/future-of-work-from-home

World Health Organization. (2022, June 20). Road traffic injuries. World Health

Organization; World Health Organization: WHO.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries

Wulfeck, A. (2022, March 7). Washington ranks as no. 1 worst state for potholes. FOX

Weather.

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/washington-ranks-as-no-1-worst-state-for

-potholes