Planning Secondary Road Network for Low-Speed Vehicles in Small or Medium-Sized City with Google Earth

Abstract

The use of low-speed vehicles (LSVs) on public roadways has gradually increased in recent years as a short-range alternative to fossil-fueled vehicles. Primarily designed for protected environments and gated communities, LSVs have a maximum speed limit of 25 mph and are not held to the same Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards required for passenger cars. This paper presents a comprehensive planning methodology for developing a secondary low-speed roadway network primarily for use by LSVs in small or medium-sized cities with closely located activity spaces. Because small or medium-sized cities typically have limited planning or construction resources, the objective was to base the low-speed network on the existing city road system, with minimal infrastructure modifications. The city of Corvallis, Oregon, was selected for the study area because of its size and need for a road network to accommodate safe movement of LSVs. Corvallis had a number of LSVs, other electric vehicles, and nonmotorized vehicles using the public roadways and is a city with no urban sprawl. A survey of the city's residents provided valuable insight on users’ route choice behavior. A roadway inventory that used the Corvallis transportation plan along with the program Google Earth helped evaluate the city's actual transportation infrastructure and analyze the factors that influence LSV users’ route-preference behavior. The developed low-speed roadway network is expected to provide LSVs safe and efficient connectivity from neighborhood areas to major Corvallis activity centers while minimally affecting the safe operation of regular vehicles.