2014•Transportation 2014: Past, Present, Future - 2014 Conference and Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada // Transport 2014 : Du passé vers l'avenir - 2014 Congrès et Exposition de 'Association des transports du CanadaRequires access
Evaluation of Speed Management Strategies: A Before and After Study
R Omrani, Pedram Izadpanah, N Zervos, Alireza Hadayeghi
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Abstract
In recent years there has been a considerable amount of interest on the part of road authorities and their residents in stopping the progressive erosion of residential quality of life caused by street traffic. High traffic volumes and speeds, especially on local streets, potentially impact residents in terms of safety, noise, and pollution. Road authorities have expressed interest in implementation of speed management strategies (as a means of decreasing the cars’ dominance) that are relatively low-cost in nature and easily implemented in the short-term periods (within 1-5 years). Speed management strategies aim at reducing the frequency of vehicle with speed too fast for the prevailing conditions and increase compliance with the posted speed limit. These speed management strategies encompass a wide range of measures that include enforcement, education, and engineering. It is critically important for road authorities to understand the effectiveness of these measures on operating speed of vehicles. This paper involves evaluation of three speed management engineering measures: (1) installation of the speed limit signs, (2) peripheral traverse bars, and (3) gateways where speed limit zones and land-use change. An observational before and after study with comparison group is used to evaluate the effects of these measures on speed. The data used for this study were collected from Trafalgar Road in the Regional Municipality of Halton, Ontario where these speed management measures were implemented. The results of the before and after study suggested that implementation of the speed management strategies resulted in the reduction of the average operating speeds, in the range of 4 to 8 percent; however these results were not statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval. The results of this study will assist road authorities in the decision making process for potential implementation of these measure in their jurisdiction for speed management purposes.