These slippery economics that place a tangible dollar value on every second of time savings allow transportation agencies to claim increased speeds from improved level of service as an unqualified economic benefit, even though a person saving two or three minutes in a year doesn’t receive any actual, tangible money back in their pocket. Increasing speeds on a local main street or commercial area can also harm local businesses, especially small businesses that more heavily rely on customers walking and biking—impacts which are not measured or considered.

Projected harm to LOS is used as an argument against so many of the features that make streets safer for everyone who needs to use them, including more pedestrian crossings (because drivers will have to stop more frequently), narrower lanes (because it will slow down overall vehicle speeds), and sidewalks or bike lanes (because these will take space from drivers).