What is the value of good infrastructure? Or, conversly, how much does poor infrastructure cost?
Consider a seemingly benign example: uneven sidewalks.
How much does a single pothole cost us in broken bones and broken phones?
Let’s make some assumptions;
- rate of people passing over a popular, uneven, sidewalk (we’re in a big city). 10,000 people / day
- chance of tripping on this uneven sidewalk (there’s a pothole). 1/500
- given a trip, the likelihood of minor injury (serious bruises, sprains). 1/10
- given a trip, the likelihood of major injury (pulled muscles, broken wrists / ankles). 1/50
- given a trip, likelihood of broken tech (cracked screens, dropped in a puddle, …). 1/5
- average cost of minor injury. $100
- average cost of major injury. $10000
- average cost of broken tech. $100
So, we have estimated that a single uneven sidewalk, in a busy town, costs us $1,679,000 per year.
You know, this gets me thinking. I would like to see;
Wellington City Council is hiring a city planner to optimise Wellington. This job will involve optimising the city to help people get where they want cheaper, safer and faster.
Long story short: I tripped over a pothole. It hurt.