Controlling vehicle speeds on local streets

Engineers and planners have realised that traffic volume is not the only component of traffic intrusion problems in residential areas; rather these problems are multi-dimensional. Vehicle speed is one of these additional dimensions. Residents have also demonstrated an unwillingness to greatly sacrifice their personal mobility to gain respite from traffic intrusion. Thus there has been a shift in local area planning from measures such as street closures to the use of devices for speed control (e. g. humps, narrowings, chicanes and roundabouts), and the imposition of special speed limits. This note provides some initial steps towards the formal definition of local area traffic planning objectives, and introduces some possible mathematical models. Language: en