Effectiveness Of Traffic Calming Measures Research Articles

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Traffic Calming Measures by SPEIR Methodology: Framework and Case Studies

The speed value of 30 km/h should not be exceeded in urban areas, both to ensure safety requirements for all categories of users and to improve the overall quality of life in urban areas. Moreover, it is necessary not only to comply with the prescribed maximum speed, but also to ensure a uniform speed by limiting the variations in relation to the average value within an acceptable range of variation. An original analysis methodology is therefore proposed, useful for both technicians and administrators to verify the effectiveness of traffic calming measures, especially in areas where these measures are widely used, such as Zones 30. This methodology, called SPEIR (acronym for Speed Profile, Effectiveness Indicators and Results, which are the keywords of the three steps into which the proposed methodology is divided), is divided into three operational steps necessary to both verify the effectiveness of existing traffic calming measures in a given context and to plan new traffic calming measures to be implemented in specific urban sectors to be requalified and revitalized. Finally, three case studies are presented where the application of the SPEIR methodology is useful not only for understanding the operational steps in the application of the methodology itself, but also for understanding the differences in terms of the safety performance that the various traffic calming measures provide to the users of the urban streets where such measures are present.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Traffic calming measures

The main objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of various traffic calming measures on achieving their predetermined objectives. The first stage focused on the influence of measures like Speed table, Rumble strips, Road studs and Lane narrowing implemented in isolation under the same conditions, on the speed of unimpeded vehicles has been investigated by evaluating differences in speed profiles of individual vehicles. Their effect on safety was assessed by comparing the accident data before and after installation of these measures. The second stage measured the operating speeds of vehicles passing through successive measures using a GPS based mobile application, Speedometer in 2 seconds interval to have an insight on the relationship between spacing and speed. The raw speed data were analysed and formed significant relationships which formed the basis of a multiple linear regression model for the speed profile of unimpeded vehicles in a given traffic calmed link.

Effects of Traffic Calming Measures on Mobility, Road Safety and Pavement Conditions on Abuakwa-Bibiani Highway

Traffic calming measures (TCMs) have been widely adopted as the major speed control devices in Ghana. While initial evaluations have underscored their effectiveness, little research has been conducted to assess their characteristics relative to design guidelines and the negative externalities associated with their misapplications. The objectives of this research were to; i) establish the characteristics of TCMs, and their implications on mobility; ii) to establish essential speed parameters in communities where TCMs are deployed iii) to establish pavement conditions abutting traffic calming measures and; iv) to analyse the accident typology on the Abuakwa-Bibiani road. Method: Firstly, a radar gun and android speed measuring device were used to unobtrusively measure vehicles’ spot speeds and profiles respectively at different locations relative to the TCMs. Also, visual inspections were carried out to assess the pavement conditions surrounding the TCMs while a geodetic laser levelling instrument and a surveying staff were used to obtain the crown heights of the TCMs. Further, the accident typology on the candidate road were analysed to establish how the TCMs are affecting road crashes. Results: Vehicle speeds were generally lower than the posted speed limits in settlements which have TCMs. Nevertheless, the proportion of accident casualties being pedestrians despite lower speeds in settlements remains unacceptably high. Further, the collision typology on this highway were predominantly loss control and rear-end accidents suggesting that the TCMs are playing insidious roles in some of the crash types on this road. Pavement distresses such as depressions, cracks, rutting, ravelling, potholes and deposit of debris were common in the vicinity of the TCMs. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that awareness creation among communities along the highway may be amenable to improving pedestrians’ safety than relying on only engineering countermeasures. The predominant collision types; loss control and rear-end implies that the TCMs are inadvertently contributing to some accident types. For a long term and sustainable speed control, bypassing settlements, use of active dynamic speed bumps (smart or intelligent speed bumps); and a deterrence-based electronic enforcement such as the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System which uses the demerit points offer better alternatives on the highways.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of traffic calming measures on vehicle speeds and pedestrian injury severity in Ghana

Objectives: Each year, pedestrian injuries constitute over 40% of all road casualty deaths and up to 60% of all urban road casualty deaths in Ghana. This is as a result of the overwhelming dependence on walking as a mode of transport in an environment where there are high vehicular speeds and inadequate pedestrian facilities. The objectives of this research were to establish the (1) impact of traffic calming measures on vehicle speeds and (2) association between traffic calming measures and pedestrian injury severity in built-up areas in Ghana.Method: Vehicle speeds were unobtrusively measured in 38 selected settlements, including 19 with traffic calming schemes and 19 without. The study design used in this research was a matched case–control. A regression analysis compared case and control casualties using a conditional logistic regression.Results: Generally, the mean vehicle speeds and the proportion of vehicles exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit were significantly lower in settlements that have traffic calming measures compared to towns without any traffic calming measures. Additionally, the proportion of motorists who exceeded the speed limit was 30% or less in settlements that have traffic calming devices and the proportion who exceeded the speed limit was 60% or more in towns without any traffic calming measures. The odds of pedestrian fatality was significantly higher in settlements that have no traffic calming devices compared to those that have (odds ratio [OR] = 1.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–4.43). The protective effects of a traffic calming scheme that has a speed table was notably higher than those where there were no speed tables.Conclusion: It was clearly evident that traffic calming devices reduce vehicular speeds and, thus, the incidence and severity of pedestrian injuries in built-up areas in Ghana. However, the fact that they are deployed on arterial roads is increasingly becoming a road safety concern. Given the emerging safety challenges associated with speed calming measures, we recommend that their use be restricted to residential streets but not on arterial roads. Long-term solutions for improving pedestrian safety proposed herein include bypassing settlements along the highways to reduce pedestrians’ exposure to traffic collisions and adopting a modern way of enforcement such as evidence-based laser monitoring in conjunction with a punishment regime that utilizes the demerit points system.

Influence of drivers’ psychological risk profiles on the effectiveness of traffic calming measures

Road traffic injuries represent a serious public health problem and are one of leading cause of death, injury and disability around the world. Road accidents are often caused by an accumulation of factors; however, drivers appear to be by far the most decisive one. The driver’s behaviour is complex and depends on reflex (or involuntary) and voluntary driving actions. The first class of actions (reflex actions) are typical human reactions that remain inaccessible to awareness and refer to the direct interaction between the road user and the characteristics of the road and its surrounding environment. Conversely, voluntary actions are conscious behaviours adopted on the basis of planned decisions. Both types of driving actions act simultaneously and the interaction between them and their relative effects on road safety are an aspect not yet well examined. The main objective of this study was to provide, by means of a driving simulation experiment, an insight on this interaction by evaluating the influence of some psychological characteristics on the effectiveness of different types of traffic calming measures at pedestrian crossings, designed according to the Human Factors principles. Fifty-eight participants drove a virtual urban route while data on their performance, as they approached five configurations of pedestrian crossings equipped with different physical and perceptual treatments, were collected. The participants were preliminarily characterized by means of two psychological questionnaires, which allowed the identification of three distinct groups of drivers belonging to three risk profiles (careful, worried, and at risk). The three groups of drivers reacted differently to the proposed engineering treatments, confirming the clustering identified by the preliminary analysis. The results showed that the proposed traffic calming measures are effective on all psychological sub-groups of drivers, with different effectiveness. These first results support that, in the considered driving environment (pedestrian crossings), the Human Factors approach, with which traffic calming measures can be arranged, could be effective, even if different psychological sub-groups are differently affected.

Effects of traffic calming measures in different urban areas

Abstract Despite of the reduction of deaths and serious injuries in roads in Spain during the last years, this reduction has not been so important in urban areas. Consequently, Traffic calming measures (TCM) have been installed in urban areas to improve mainly safety of pedestrians and cyclists. There is a wide range of existing measures, with varying success. Most of the TCMs are focused in speed reduction, as a way of providing a safer atmosphere to urban zones. Different speed reduction percentages are obtained by each TCM according to their geometric features and emplacements in the road. This paper compares some traffic calming measures in the cities of Bilbao, Burgos, Leon and Vitoria (located in the north of Spain) in order to evaluate the repeatability of their efficiency in different emplacements. The TCM selected where some of the most used in this cities. These were raised crosswalks, lane narrowing, radar speed camera signs and radar speed cameras. The speed reduction were compared and analyzed to present some conclusions about the efficiency of each traffic calming measure.

A multi-criteria analysis framework including environmental and health impacts for evaluating traffic calming measures at the road network level

ABSTRACTRecent interests in both vehicle emissions and public health have facilitated the development of more eco-friendly transportation systems. This study developed a multi-criteria evaluation framework to evaluate the effectiveness of traffic calming measures (TCMs) from the various perspectives at the road network level; operational efficiency, traffic safety, environmental and health impacts. The proposed methodology employs four-step sequential simulation experiments, including driving, traffic flow, emissions, and air dispersion simulations. The results obtained from these four simulations are used to evaluate the effectiveness in terms of safety and operational efficiency in addition to environmental and health impacts. A multi-criteria value function based on the weights estimated from the analysis of an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is applied in the evaluation framework. As an application, chicanes and speed humps widely implemented in Korean school zones were evaluated at the road network level. The proposed simulation-based approach is expected to be effectively used for the decision-making process in selecting better alternatives for TCM.

Unified methodology for estimating efficiency of traffic calming measures – example of Estonia

Traffic calming is an integral part of contemporary traffic planning and traffic management being used for fulfilling different tasks such as reducing vehicle speed and traffic volume, and in final terms reducing number of accidents. Traffic calming measures are notstandardized internationally and have significant differences in geometric shape and layout in different countries, as well as in Estonia. At the same time impacts of different calming measures are unstudied well, and often the surveys are incomparable to each other. There are also no certain recommendation which measures should be implemented under different conditions. One of the reasons for that is lack of tested methodology for estimating the effectiveness of calming measures. This paper describes research that aimed at developing such a methodology and conducting a pilot study to test it. Effectiveness of traffic calming measures is estimated from the perspectives of vehicle speed and public acceptance. The new methodology assumes conducting an experiment. It allows comparing efficiency of two or more measures of the same type. The pilot study was conducted in Tallinn with a sample of 30 drivers. Results of this study proved that the new methodology is suitable for estimating effectiveness of traffic calming measures.

Getting an Insight into the Effects of Traffic Calming Measures on Road Safety

The objective of this paper is to assess the significance of urban traffic calming and to get an insight into the safety impacts of local and area-wide traffic calming interventions enabling a better understanding and therefore ‘better-informed’ decisions on different schemes. Safety effects of traffic calming initiatives have been analysed on a city-level for larger Hungarian cities and an in-depth research has also been carried out for a more detailed case from the capital of Hungary. Results show that traffic calming initiatives have a very significant role in enhancing road safety of urban areas. Meanwhile the case study of Budapest explains observed effects in detail allowing for more accurate appraisal tools to be developed.

Effects of Traffic Calming Measures on Vehicle Speed Control and Road Safety

This thesis introduced the origin and function of traffic calming measures in solving road safety problem and reducing vehicle speed to make the environment more secure, also introduced several different types of basic traffic calming measures. Facts showed that using traffic measures can improve the safety of traffic environment, reduce vehicle speed and decrease accidents and pollutions. Therefore, traffic calming measures should be highly valued by governments and policy makers in constructing a city with harmony and prosperity.

Exploring Effects of Area-Wide Traffic Calming Measures on Urban Road Sustainable Safety

Traffic calming schemes refer to a combination of road network planning and engineering measures to minimize undesirable effects of traffic in residential areas. The traffic calming role in urban road network management is, indeed, to enhance road safety as well as other aspects of liveability for the citizens; in this context accident reduction can be a realistic objective. Several studies highlight that traffic calming treatments can significantly reduce road accidents in urban areas. Nevertheless, the increase of the accident rate per kilometre travelled has been found in urban areas as result of the so-called accident migration phenomenon. Starting from these considerations, the paper discusses the effects of traffic calming measures on road safety. The paper also aims to provide a concise overview of knowledge on the potential of the meta-analysis method in detecting the true effect of traffic calming measures on road safety. Therefore, the role of the road network planning and the characteristics of urban road network that have to be consistent to the traffic calming objectives are examined. Finally, authors suggest a methodological procedure for implementing a traffic calming zone in residential areas, from planning level to road design.

Effects of Traffic Calming Measures on Pedestrian and Motorist Behavior

By slowing down vehicle traffic, shortening crossing distances, and enhancing motorist and pedestrian visibility, traffic calming treatments may benefit pedestrians who are crossing the street. The effects of selected traffic calming treatments on pedestrian and motorist behavior were evaluated at both intersection and midblock locations. Before and after data were collected in Cambridge, Massachusetts (bulbouts and raised intersection), Corvallis, Oregon (pedestrian refuge island), Seattle, Washington (bulbouts), and Sacramento, California (refuge islands). The key findings include that none of the treatments had a significant effect on the percentage of pedestrians for whom motorists yielded, the treatments usually did not have a significant effect on average pedestrian waiting time, and refuge islands often served to channelize pedestrians into marked crosswalks. The raised intersection in Cambridge also increased the percentage of pedestrians who crossed in the crosswalk. While traffic calming devices have the potential for improving the pedestrian environment, these devices by themselves do not guarantee that motorists will slow down or yield to pedestrians.