Road design, transportation and walkability

[plam]

Again, if by using a proprietary model we could get some absolutely amazing result that was impossible without it, it might be a different story: our right to know might be trumped by the amazing result. The cost involved and other alternatives also come into play. Consider if a government website has a Google search link. In an ideal world, I would say that the public has a right to understand how the website works, including the search feature on it. In the real world however, the ability to just throw a Google search link on the website for free provides so much utility that I don’t care that I’m not allowed to know the details of the algorithm.

Presumably one could make a Freedom of Information request which might override the NDA given that this information is in the public interest.