The Salt Institute has been singled out as an example of nefarious behind-the-scenes policy manipulation in a story in yesterday's Chicago Tribune .
The subject is Emergency Evacuation Report Card 2006 , a new study funded by the American Bus Association and produced and publicized by the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA). The study shows that many large U.S. cities have deficient emergency plans to evacuate their populations. Our involvement? I sit on the AHUA Board.
It turns out that the Salt Institute has a major interest in Chicago's plans to move traffic smoothly and safely in emergencies -- if a dozen or more snowstorms every winter are emergencies. Fortunately, the City (unlike the Trib) takes these "emergencies" in stride with one of the most effective winter maintenance programs in North America.
The Trib advises "take the (AHUA) study with a large grain of salt." Fortunately, Chicagoans know better: they take every winter storm emergency with lots of grains of salt.
