Abstract
This paper was presented at the `Effective Public Consultation in Transportation Planning' session. This paper presents a critical examination of the technical language of transportation engineering. The traditional meanings of words such as "improvements", "enhancements", and "upgrades" are challenged. It is suggested that these words carry a pro-automobile bias, and do not consider other users of the road such as pedestrians and cyclists. Terms like "level of service", "traffic impacts", and "traffic demand" are critiques. In the paper words and phrases are suggested which should be substituted for enigneers' traditional vocabulary. (A)