Transportation in the United States is hugely important. Whether you prefer to travel by train, by car, or by plane – or some combination thereof, there is no doubt that adequate transportation planning is absolutely essential to the success of many metropolitan regions, if not the United States itself as a whole. The importance of transportation planning cannot be underestimated, as without transportation, we would be truly lost. And the importance of transportation planning will only grow in the years to come as technology advanced and urban development continues to grow. The importance of transportation planning will long be crucial, from lidar surveying and photogrammetry to the widespread growth of transportation planning firms.

Unfortunately, much of the importance of transportation planning has fallen by the wayside in the United States as it is today. In fact, it is estimated that at least one third of all roads in the United States, major roads and minor roads alike, are in far from the best shape possible, even being classed in poor or mediocre conditions. The poor condition of these roads and the lack of the importance of transportation planning in recent years has already had a number of serious consequences. For one, it simply makes so many of our roads far less efficient than they could be, and with a distinct lack of traffic engineering involved. For instance, it is has been found that, for fifty percent or even more of roads all throughout the country, total traffic capacity is at seventy percent. Of these roads, one full quarter of them have reached ninety five percent capacity, leading to a great deal of strain on these roads as they struggle to cope with the burden that has been unfairly placed upon them and that they do not have the capabilities to handle.

The lack of importance of transportation planning that has been seen in recent years all throughout the United States is not only seen in the fact that it causes huge back ups of traffic and other traffic related problems. On top of this, the lack of time and importance of transportation planning has also been found to be dangerous – and even deadly, under the right (or wrong, depending on how you are looking at it) circumstances. Highway fatalities are far too common all throughout the United States, and far too common. Though certainly some causes of car accidents and other such motor vehicle accidents can be difficult to prevent, this is unfortunately not one of those things. Of all of the highway fatalities that occur in this country of the United States, it has been found that at least one third can be directly linked to the less than ideal conditions of roads as well as obsolete road designs and roadside hazards that have been caused by the American lack of importance of transportation planning.

There is no doubt about it that transportation planning is hugely important not only in the United States, but in other places around the world as well. Unfortunately, the much of the importance of transportation planning has been lost in the United States alone, and this deficit has led to severe problems in many of the roadways that make up this country. High traffic capacities represent one problem, as far too many roads in the United States are dealing with traffic levels that they are not equipped to handle – and yet they are expected to handle it anyway. On top of this, the lack of importance of traffic planning is actually leading to unnecessary accidents and even deaths on highways all around the country, something that has been found to be directly linked to the poor conditions that many of these roads have been found in . At the end of the day, the United States needs to do better when it comes to traffic planning and road planning both – we need to do better altogether as a country. And the roads are a matter of critical importance – saving the roads means, at the end of the day, that we are saving lives.