At the 73rd Maine Transportation Conference, a crowd of experts, engineers, planners, and policymakers gathered to consider the future of how people move—by foot, by bike, by bus, behind the wheel and more. It was fitting that Marshall Elizer of the Washington State Department of Transportation and Vice-Chair of the AASHTO Committee on Design, opened the event with a talk that melded the technical with the philosophical. What stood out in his speech wasn’t just his technical expertise, but his ability to connect the arcane world of geometric road design to something much larger: the way we live, work, and build our communities. This is an excerpt of that speech and conference slides can be viewed at https://mbtaonline.org/73rd-maine-transportation-conference-slides/
“Geometric design,” Elizer began, “is impactful not just to those who are actually performing it on a daily basis, but also to any of us who walk, bike, or drive. It says a lot about how our life works—or doesn’t work—as we move around our communities.”
For many, the phrase “geometric design” may conjure visions of technical manuals filled with precise dimensions for traffic lanes and curves. But Elizer’s message went far beyond the Green Book, the manual that serves as the bible for roadway design in the U.S. Yes, the Green Book provides engineers with standards for road widths, speed limits, and alignments, but Elizer urged his audience to think of it as a starting point—not the final word.
“The Green Book allows a design that fits in this big box, but we’re really comfortable in this little box in the middle. That’s where we feel most comfortable, and that’s where we want to stay. But that flexibility says, look outside the small box. Think about the alternatives.”
This push for flexibility reflects the challenges of modern road design. The days of building entirely new highways through untouched land are largely behind us. Today’s transportation professionals are grappling with how to retrofit and adapt aging infrastructure to meet modern demands: safer spaces for pedestrians and cyclists, more efficient traffic flows, and designs that harmonize with community goals rather than bulldozing over them.
Elizer’s perspective is grounded in pragmatism, but also urgency. He didn’t shy away from addressing the sobering reality of safety on America’s roadways. Each year, approximately 1.2 million people die on roads worldwide. In the U.S. alone, more than 42,000 lives were lost in 2022. Pedestrians, he noted, are especially at risk.
“Good geometric design equals safety and efficiency for all users,” Elizer said. Elizer also touched on the broader
systemic factors that put Americans at greater risk than their global peers. He cited a global ranking that placed the U.S. 26th in road safety, behind countries like Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. One reason, he suggested, is that America’s land-use policies often favor suburban sprawl, which forces people into cars and increases exposure to risk. In contrast, many European countries emphasize compact, walkable urban planning, coupled with stricter enforcement of traffic laws.
Despite these challenges, Elizer struck an optimistic tone about the future. He highlighted the Safe System Approach, an international framework that the U.S. Department of Transportation has adopted to eliminate traffic fatalities. It’s a bold goal—Vision Zero, as it’s called—but one that Elizer believes is achievable if professionals embrace innovation and flexibility.
In the end, Elizer’s speech was about more than roads. It was a call to rethink how we design the spaces that connect us—to create systems that don’t just move people efficiently, but also protect their lives and reflect their communities’ values.
