Tara Goddard

@drtaragoddard

Transportation engineering professor. Road safety, planning, behavior, & culture; wildfire planning and response; inclusive disaster evacuation; ethics of tech in transportation. Pedagogy and rsearch methods nerd. SLO and Tahoe. "Tare-uh", She/her.

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Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· 10d

Not only could this person not work again, they had to change their name and move to a small island in the Pacific (I assume)

A post on Facebook, with the caption "Nevermind with the storm, where the hell did Mississippi go?" shows a map created by the person formerly known as Mark Nowlin for the The Seattle Times. The map, showing Hurricane Harvey's potential track, labels Alabama right next to Louisiana.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· 17d

My Belgian Shepherd dog (Malinois) is very invested in The Sheep Detectives. 😂 I'm going to have to watch with earphones because she just barked at the TV. 🤦🏻‍♀️

A black dog, with her legs oddly pretzeled, sits on a couch staring intently at a TV out of frame. Her large pointy ears are rivaled by her long pointy muzzle.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· 19d

This post will never not make me laugh when it pops up in my Facebook memories. Crazy (good) decision. 😏 Also, I can't believe that was 16 years ago! Of course, you could already tell it was a long time ago by the format of the post. 😆

In her Facebook post on July 23, 2010, the OP says she is considering leaving her salaried job to go back and get a PhD to teach and do research. She asks "Am I freakin' crazy?!". Fast forward 16 years (whoa), and she loves to do both those things.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· 23d

lol

Dan and I both skeeted the word "good" in all caps when Spain scores

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· 23d

You have to zoom in to see him, but I love this photo I took at a game in Barcelona of three young men all wearing Yamal jerseys, leaning forward to see Lamine Yamal on the field during a match at the Olympic Stadium

three young men all wearing Yamal jerseys lean forward to see Lamine Yamal on the field during a match at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jul 10

When I said "near me", this is what I meant 😄🙉

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 25

I just saw one of the most surreal things while I was walking my dog. I think maybe a rocket blew up? Maybe out of Vandenberg?

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 18

You can get a sense of what a nightmare the SLO housing market is when the listing for a $700k condo includes a Google street view of the place tented for fumigation, and that won't cause the slightest hesitation for buyers.

A screenshot of a Zillow listing shows a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo listed for $699,000. There is a shot from Google streetview where the building is engulfed in a striped fumigation tent, suggesting a serious previous pest problem.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 15

One nice thing about the World Cup being in North American time zones is that soon we will be able to go straight from the Tour to soccer for a full day of sportswatching. Good thing my summertime employer likes sports. 😄 (my supervisor, however, is less keen on watching sports than playing them)

The aforementioned supervisor, a slender Malinois mix, plays in the shallows of a wave breaking on the beach.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 15

My dog does not appreciate how much soccer I've been watching. She keeps standing over me and dropping her toy in my lap. 😅

A bright-eyed black and brindle Belgian Malinois attempts to block the view of the TV, which has the World Cup on. Her expression clearly says "less TV, more play time"

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 13

I took this video just now. Toward the end, you see a red SUV make a left out of the cul-de-sac. You can see why some neighbors (and the FD, I believe) want a full signal. These left turns out across the fast and sometimes non-stop traffic on South already happen, and won't be improved by a PHB.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 13

Y'all. There is so much to unpack here that I'm going to take a nap before I attempt it. I can see the unsafe crossing from my living room. I've posted many times about this corridor. This flyer is bonkers. So much incorrect, but with terms to make it sound knowledgeable. Wonder who created these.

A flyer tacked to a pole weaponizes concerns about schoolkid safety to claim, incorrectly, that a pedestrian hybrid beacon will be safer for people walking and bicycling than a full signal would be. There are multiple incorrect or misleading statements on it.

The nicely done crossing in the photo on the flyer is nothing like the "successful" crossing treatment that the text references, nor will the proposed project, that the poster author wants to "save", look anything like this.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 7

I ask students to do a reflective writing exercise about this quote every term.

A screenshot of a tweet by user @imjasondiamond that says

"There's this exchange between Bourdain and Iggy Pop during the Miami episode of Parts Unknown where Iggy tells Bourdain, "You seem like a curious person" and Bourdain answers, "It's my only virtue." I think about that all the time."

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Jun 7

I actually had to look up the term Mandarin! who talks like that??

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· May 31

can you please go pick this up for me? kthx

A framed art piece in an estate sale listing. The illustration is muted colors with thin, intricate lines, reminiscent of John Lee or Arthur Rackham or Amy Brown.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· May 31

Nothing like trying to grade final projects on Canvas 🙄 (yes, it is Saturday night. being a professor is v glamorous)

A photo of the grade box area on Canvas merely says "Sorry, something broke", with none of its usual functionality. You can see that none of the groups have been graded yet."

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· May 25

This makes me want to cry. We need regulations against building multi-family housing by freeways and arterials, AND bans on building McMansions next to walkable towns and near beaches and parks. I thought these were condos, but no. What a disgrace. And I had no idea that surface parking was there.

A listing from realton.com shows a 4 bedroom 4 bath single family home listed in Avila Beach for 2.85 million dollars.

An aerial view of Avila Beach shows the expensive houses for sale, along with a truly astounding amount of surface parking, which is nearly empty.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· May 8

As much as I want to see us get away from internal combustion engines, I can't say I love the uptick in people driving their Teslas again, or worse, buying new ones. But the real kicker was seeing this one stopped next to me at a light. wtf is wrong with people?

A grey Tesla stopped at a traffic light has a license plate that says "DOGE 'em". Like, personalized plates cost extra. Annually. You have to keep paying to be this much of a douche nozzle.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· May 1

I took this video from my bed this morning. This street used to be four lanes, I can't imagine how it was to live on it. But I also can't imagine this is healthy now. I didn't happen to catch the semi trucks or big box trucks, but there are many, it is the state trucking route in town.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Apr 23

Advice needed from y'all crafty folks. I have an old Timbuktu bike bag (pannier), and the outside is like new but the waterproof interior is dried and crumbling. How would you rehab this? The waterproof is nice but not critical here (unlike Portland 😄). But the crumbling blue plastic is messy. TIA!

A black Timbuktu bike bag with a nearly flawless canvas outer.

The bright blue plasticized inside of a bag flap is crumbling away, revealing the inside of the canvas lining.

The interior of a bag is mostly blue plastic interior but the coating is crumbling off.

The back side of the bag has nice bike rack hooks for a pannier style bag.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Apr 23

I took this photo yesterday along the shared use path running from campus into town. We had discussed "desire lines" aka rabbit trails aka cow paths in class a couple weeks ago. This is one of the best examples I've seen. You gotta appreciate the use of materials at hand. 😏

A wrought iron fence between a path and railroad tracks has been bent between two rails to allow people to slide through and reach the housing on the far side of the track without going a mile or more out of their way. Someone has used a large chunk of concrete to wedge the opening wider.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Apr 15

My new ride. Thanks to the team at Foothill Cyclery, I decided on an Aventon Level REC. I tried to love a mid-drive, but couldn't, probably because I had a rear wheel motor for the last 13 years. I had to park in my office because every rack on every side of the building was full. 🤷🏻‍♀️

A dark champagne colored ebike with a low step through frame is parked in a messy office with framed t-shirts from the OP's parent's jobs and a metal bicycle art, a gift from her students when she had cancer.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Apr 12

yeehah

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 28

Awesome to see so many people out for #NoKings. But oof, the Flock camera smack in the middle of the pro democracy demonstrators. Pretty sure there is a term for that.

In the foreground is a large chartreuse sign that says "ICE will face justice". A crowd holds numerous pro democracy and anti Trump and anti ICE signs. In the background rises a large red brick building with an American flag. In the middle of the crowd is a Flock or similar law enforcement camera station, with an overhead view of the crowd.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 21

And right on cue ...

A screenshot of the Watch Duty app shows a new 100 acre fire in San Luis Obispo with 0% containment.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 17

I was taking a picture to show how using a former streetcar for a parking structure security booth is a perfect ironic microcosm of US transportation, but the guy working in it was so nice and misunderstood my intent and insisted on getting a pic of me pretending to hang out the door. 😄🤷🏻‍♀️ #AAG2026

A former or model San Francisco street serves as a security booth in a hotel parking structure. A white woman with short salt and pepper hair, with a large conference badge around her neck, stands with one foot on the streetcar step and holds on with one hand.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 16

Oops, here is said screenshot

A notification from Flixbus warns that the bus is non-branded and not a typical Flixbus, and may not have wifi, which would make working while traveling possible.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 14

A fire truck, an ambulance, and then a fire engine went by code 3, headed west, I thought toward 101. Checked quickmaps. Don't like the look of this. This intersection is a dicey one.

A map of traffic conditions shows dark red in every direction approaching an intersection, suggesting a crash in the intersection. Those are often severe, being perpendicular, side-on or head-on crashes.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 12

What German car company has new EV about to drop? Is there a big show like CES soon? Spotted these two zebras in the wild at Costco. I did confirm that they were indeed prototypes and not just a extra douchey wrap 😂. I'm sure I confused and probably annoyed the giant German dudes chaperoning them.

Two cars charge at Costco, wrapped with a very strange black and white pattern known as "car camo", which disguises new models from competitors and media before they hit the market.

Tara Goddard@drtaragoddard· Mar 4

Does anyone know anything about this Pallet Shelter place next to Van Nuys Amtrak? It must be fairly new, it is a parking lot on google maps. I had trouble finding info on their website. Looks like a cool tool for sheltering unhoused or evacuated people, especially near transit.