Case Article—Racial Bias in Automated Traffic Law Enforcement and the Price of Unjustness

Abstract

This case study has been developed for students to practice their data analysis and optimization skills in a contemporary societal issue: that of injustice in automated traffic law enforcement. Specifically, this case study is for students of modern data analysis and statistical modeling courses that focus on hypothesis testing; it also has a component for students in optimization and mathematical modeling courses that focus on linear and network optimization. The case study has been used since Spring 2023 in a combination of two courses from the Industrial Engineering (Analysis of Data, an introduction to probability and statistics) and Civil Engineering (Transportation Systems, an introduction to mathematical modeling and optimization for civil engineers with a focus on transportation) curricula.History: This paper has been accepted for the INFORMS Transactions on Education Special Issue on DEI in ORMS Classrooms.Supplemental Material: The Teaching Note and data files are available at https://www.informs.org/Publications/Subscribe/Access-Restricted-Materials .