Episode 8: The Hidden Harm of Traffic Noise + Advice for a Young Engineer

Traffic Noise – David & Wes dig into traffic noise as an overlooked public health problem and a quiet but pervasive form of harm in cities. Moving beyond annoyance, we explore how constant exposure to noise affects health, equity, and quality of life, and why it remains largely invisible in transportation decision-making. Listeners will come away with a better understanding of why noise matters, how it reflects deeper design choices, and what acknowledging this externality would change about how streets and cities are planned. Today, we also talk about: 🔹 Trick-or-Treating & how it's the more dangerous day of the year for kids 🔹 A proliferation of anti-car books & what this moment says about shifting public attitudes 🔹 The trials & tribulations of a young engineer trying to do better & Wes' advice for how to handle the ethical tensions Then, we have some rail drinks...stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation! Here is David's article on the Anti-Car Books: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/car-brain-is-making-the-us-unhealthy-and-dangerous-evs-won-t-fix-it And "The Traffic Noise Externality: Costs, Incidence and Policy Implications" paper by Enrico Moretti & Harrison Wheeler:  www.nber.org/papers/w34298 Music by Charlie Van Stee (courtesy of bensound) Email us at [email protected] or find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org