US DOT tries to shame Congress into funding transportation infrastructure with #ShowUsYourInfraWear

2015-08-04T19:19:00-04:00

So beginning today and running throughout the August recess, we're turning our Instagram account over to you. Just snap a photo – please do it safely! – of the worn-out infrastructure in your neck of the woods and share it with @USDOT using #ShowUsYourInfraWear.

Public shaming has long been a tactic of the U.S. criminal justice system – there were the stocks of yore, the scarlet letters, and more recently, the tactics of felony court judge Ted Poe. Nowadays though, we tend to skip all the messiness of the public square and go straight to the internet to delve out shame – less as a sanctioned method of retributive justice, and more as a form of activism. Now, fed up with Congressional obstinacy to fund a long-term highway-planning bill, the Department of Transportation is joining the fray.

Using #ShowUsYourInfraWear, USDOT is imploring people to share pictures of surface infrastructure in disrepair with their Instagram, @USDOT. This isn't like a city's 311 service – tagging it isn't going to actually report it to local authorities – it's a rallying call for Congress to fund better transportation maintenance once it returns from a 5-week recess in September. The American Society of Civil Engineers issues a national "report card" every four yea...

Archinect - News

US DOT tries to shame Congress into funding transportation infrastructure with #ShowUsYourInfraWear