EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF COMMUNITY TRAFFIC STUDIES

The City of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) adopted a Traffic Calming Policy in January, 2003 to provide clear direction on the types of traffic calming measures to be considered in Calgary, and appropriate circumstances for their use. As part of this policy, a framework was developed to evaluate and prioritize communities for neighborhood traffic calming studies. This paper, from a set of conference proceedings on Intersection Safety: Achieving Solutions Through Partnerships (March 2004, Irvine, California), outlines the process in which communities are evaluated and prioritized. Screening is the first step in responding to reported traffic issues, followed by evaluation and prioritization activities. The criteria used reflects the goals of traffic calming, specifically safety and livability, as well as the objectives of reducing speed and short-cutting volume, and minimizing conflicts between road users. Community support is also considered in the evaluation, as a basis for assigning higher priority to areas with higher levels of community support. The author concludes that the evaluation and prioritization process described has been effective in dealing with the public requests for traffic calming studies. The process allows the limited staff resources to best serve the communities most in need.