This week, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on railroad safety. Many of us can’t imagine a faster way to put ourselves to sleep than listening to these kinds of deliberations, but this particular discussion touches on an important debate. It’s about when to install new technology that prevents train accidents, and whether it’s more important than repairing infrastructure, like train bridges. It also has to do with crunching big data, including deciding the value of a human life.

Ted Mann, transportation reporter for the Wall Street Journal, joins Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson to discuss.