How Communities Are Slowing Down

8/10/2019 How Communities Are Slowing Down

1/8

Page 1 of 8

Oro Valley, Arizona: Neighborhood-Level Outreach to Reduce Speeds

The Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 program, which includes yard signs and stickers, has beenadopted by a number of communities. In Oro Valley, Arizona, a police officer secured asmall grant for traffic safety, and used it to purchase decals from Keep Kids Alive Drive25. The stickers were placed on residential waste containers in an Oro Valleyneighborhood, so that every week when the containers were brought out to curbside,

residents would be reminded to drive safely in their own and other neighborhoods. The85th percentile speed in neighborhoods streets dropped from 29 mph to 25 mph after thestickers were deployed, and the city decided to start distributing stickers for free.

How Communities are Slowing Down Sara Wright & Scott Bricker

February 2012

Communities around the United States are addressing the problem of speed on their streets in avariety of ways. Every communitys problems and solutions are different, but there are somegeneral approaches that resonate across the country. The following stories were chosen toprovide examples of how these approaches are being used to increase the safety of all roadusers in American communities.

Four Ways to Slow Things Down1. Change the Driver2. Change the Street3. Change the Posted Speed4. Change the Laws that Govern Posted Speed

1. Change the Driver

At the neighborhood and community level, outreach and education between neighbors can behelpful in increasing traffic safety, particularly in reducing speeding. Most tickets and crashestake place close to home, and many speeders live in the neighborhoods in which they arespeeding. Education campaigns can include presentations to community groups, door-to-doorvisits, stickers and yard signs, and asking people to pledge to drive a certain speed. Theseprograms can be effective at reducing speeds locally by normalizing slower driving.

2. Change the Street

American roads are often over-engineered, or designed to accommodate higher speeds that arenot only faster than the posted speed limit, but faster than is appropriate for the area.


2/8

Page 2 of 8

Communities that are concerned about traffic speed can address this issue in a variety of ways,depending on resources, political will, and neighborhood preferences. Slowing things downrequires aligning the design speed (the speed that vehicles can navigate the street withoutlosing control) with the desired driving speed, the speed that makes sense for the context of thestreet.

Change the Street to Slow Down Drivers

Encouraging motorists to choose slower speeds is often a long-term project. Methods caninclude traffic calming treatments, enforcement, or even changing the local land uses. All ofthese methods generally require action by your municipality and local transportation agency, sothe best approach for community activists is to start building a relationship with these agenciesand work with staff with oversight on your issues.

Advocates working with local agencies typically consider a variety of traffic calming methods,and it is helpful to learn the basic tools of traffic calming. The Complete Streets website is veryuseful source of information about making streets comfortable for all users. Traffic calmingincludes measures that physically signal (and force) drivers to slow down, often by narrowingthe street, or creating obstacles that cars must navigate around (chicanes) or over (speedhumps). Traffic calming does not include stop signs or traffic signals, as these are not effectivetools to slow down traffic - they can be ignored, and they can also create dangerous situationswhere drivers accelerate rapidly between them. There are many excellent organizations andresources with information about the effectiveness, cost, and best uses of a wide variety oftraffic calming tools.

! Traffic Calming: State of the Practice, Institute of Traffic Engineers, 1999

! Traffic Calming Library, Institute of Traffic Engineers

! Traffic Calming 101, Project for Public Spaces

! Trafficcalming.org! Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities in California, Alta Planning+Design


3/8

Page 3 of 8

Working to change traffic speeds in a larger area, or a zone, rather than on just one street is aneffective way to make your community safer and to encourage widespread change in the waypeople drive. In Europe, many cities have established 20-mph zones, with success in reducinginjuries and fatalities, and in late September, 2011, the EU Transport and Tourism Committeeon improving road safety in Europe recently recommended setting a 20mph speed limit for

residential areas

Consider Short-term or Temporary Solutions to Get Things Started

Many communities road user safety problems require the investment of substantial resourcesand time. Often, traffic safety advocates work on longer-term solutions while also making someshort-term or temporary changes. One way to slow traffic is simply to make the street a moreactive place, more engaging and challenging for drivers to navigate. If you can get yourcommunity out on the roadway, it can immediately change driver behavior. Typically, theseapproaches are small-scale, but also intended to build community and to demonstrate analternative model for how to use the space. There are some great examples of fun, community-building, traffic-slowing activities out there, and new ones are popping up every day.

Claremont Neighborhood, New York City, New York: Piloting Slow Zones

The New York City Department of Transportation is piloting a Slow Zone in the Bronx,to assess whether the model is appropriate for the City. The approach is modeled onLondons 20-mph zones, which have been successful in reducing average speeds,fatality crashes, and serious injury crashes. The goal of the program is to increasepedestrian safety, reduce cut-through traffic and traffic noise, and make streets morewelcoming for residents. The pilot neighborhood, Claremont in the South Bronx, waschosen for a variety of reasons, including high injury rates, number of schools, transit

access, and clear neighborhood boundaries. The treatments include signs atneighborhood gateways, speed limit signs, speed humps, and speed limit markings onthe street. The pilot is being implemented during the summer and fall of 2011. Once thepilot is wrapped up, communities will be able to apply to the slow zone program. This willallow for area-wide approaches to traffic calming, rather than case-by-case solutions. Atleast four communities have already expressed strong interest.

Contact: Rob Viola, Office of Research, Implementation, and Safety, New York CityDepartment of Transportation


4/8

Page 4 of 8

3. Change the Posted Speed

Changing the speed limit on public roads requires a public process. The first step is to approachyour local transportation agency to find out what the rules are in your situation. States typically

dictate the ability of a local jurisdiction to adjust speed limits. Your transportation agency shouldprovide you with this information, or you can research the process on your own through yourstate legislative assembly webpage or department oftransportation.

Since states set the rules about setting local traffic speeds,they can vary quite a bit. Most states have a process forlocal jurisdictions to apply to the state Department ofTransportation to change the speed limit of a street. Inthese cases, they often require a special requestaccompanied by an engineering assessment. It is likelythat the assessment will find that people are driving fast onthe road, but this finding could actually make it less likelythat the speed limit will be changed. Engineers set speedlimits at the speed at which 85% of drivers are traveling,based on the assumption that most people drive at aspeed that is reasonable. So for example, if 85% of driversare driving at 35 mph or less through a community, anengineer would say that a 35 mph speed limit is the

Dallas, Texas: Build a Better Block

The Build a Better Block project began in Dallas, Texas, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood. Alocal organization led a volunteer effort to temporarily take over a block of a street thatwas plagued by vacant storefronts. The goal was to demonstrate that the street, withsome changes, could be a much more vibrant place, and that there was a local demandfor businesses if the street was more welcoming. They changed the street space byadding big bike lanes, street furniture and planters (but allowing one lane of car trafficthrough, to demonstrate that this was a viable day-to-day way to operate the street, not

just a one time street fair). They also worked with property owners and localentrepreneurs to create pop-up shops in vacant storefronts, and brought in local artiststo fill the street with music and art. The event was very popular, demonstrating theeconomic and social potential of the area, and several of the storefronts were leasedafter the event. The City of Dallas has committed to making roadway improvements toimprove the pedestrian and bicycle environment in the area where the event took place.

The organizers of the first Better Block event have built on that success, and now offeradvice and support for other communities wishing to have their own events. The events

have similar basic structures; they are quickly planned and executed, target locations thathave the elements for a good pedestrian environment but dont currently providecomplete and safe access for people walking and biking, integrate local organizations,enlist area property owners to use vacant spaces, create good pop-up businesses usinglocal products, make the street as inviting as possible, include music, art, things to read,and places to sit, and invite policy and opinion-makers to come and see for themselveswhat the street could look like. For more information, see http://betterblock.org/


5/8

Page 5 of 8

reasonable, rational speed limit, even though it is a lethal speed for pedestrians and probablymuch too high from a community members perspective,

Even if you succeed in having the limit lowered, just changing the speed limit is unlikely to leadto major changes in the way that people drive. People generally drive as fast as they think isreasonable, based on the roadway environment, rather than obeying the posted speed limit.

Some American communities have been successful in reducing driving speed by changingspeed limits, particularly when the change is relatively small and when the limit change iscoupled with community education. In Europe, there has been strong success in lowering limitsto 20 mph in places where speeds were already low and having these changes spur other trafficcalming projects and behavior changes.

Establish Speed Zones to Support Business Districts

State guidelines for speed limits usually designate roads in business districts for relativelyslower speeds, typically 25 or 30 mph. Businesses often support slower speeds in commercialareas because they allow people using all modes to see and move between businesses moreeasily. Communities that have made traffic calming and streetscape improvements incommercial areas have seen positive impacts on local business.

Columbia, Missouri: Changing the city speed limit

Over the last decade, pedestrian safety activists in Columbia, Missouri, repeatedlyapproached the citys Public Works department to request the reduction of the citywidedefault residential speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. Lower speed limits werepermissible under state law, but city government was resistant to lowering the limit to 25mph, based on the belief of agency staff that lowering the limit would not lower travelspeeds. The issue had no political momentum until a city councilor, Barbara Hoppe, tookthe issue on. Councilor Hoppe was interested in part because of the number ofcomplaints she was getting from constituents, many of them concerned about the safetyof children and pets. She believed that the existing street-by-street approach to awidespread problem was inefficient, and she felt that lowering the speed city-wide limitwas worth a try. She worked with PedNet, the local pedestrian advocacy group, todevelop a pilot project, implemented by researchers from the University of Missouri, andshe convinced other councilors to spend $10,000 on it.

The pilot took place in two neighborhoods, and tested driving speeds before and aftersign installation and education campaigns. The data showed that just installing signsreduced average speeds by 1.0 to 6.2 mph (on different streets). The addition of aneducation campaign, implemented by PedNet, reduced speeds slightly more (.67 mph onone street and 1.75 on another). After hearing the report on the pilot, city council voted toreduce speed limits to 25 in all residential areas, in spite of some concern about theexpense of new signs. While no data has been collected on traffic speeds after thecitywide change, which took place in 2010, Councilor Hoppe reports that her office nowonly rarely hears constituent complaints about speed.

Contact: Ian Thomas PedNet


6/8


7/8

Page 7 of 8

supported with enforcement and traffic calming.

4. Change the Laws that Govern Posted Speed

When communities are restricted by state law, it may be necessary to take the speed limit issueto the state legislature. Several states have passed legislation permitting some local control for

speed limits.

Oregon: Strategic targeting of state legislation to support a city agency initiative

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is developing a network of neighborhoodgreenways network as a way to increase comfort and safety for people walking andbiking. These low-traffic, low-speed residential streets are parallel routes to busierstreets, with traffic calming measures (primarily speed humps) and safety treatments atdifficult crossings. PBOT considers the greenways a cost-effective way to move toward acomplete transportation system. This approach has been successful for Portland to date,and PBOT is enthusiastic about the greenways potential for encouraging and protectingpeople who are walking and bicycling.

To make the neighborhood greenways safer and more comfortable, PBOT wanted to

lower speed limits to 20 mph. Under state law, this would require an application andanalysis by City to the State Speed Board at the Oregon Department of Transportation.To avoid this slow, costly process, the City of Portland worked with the Oregon legislativeassembly to pass HB 3150, which allows jurisdictions to reduce speed limits on certainstreets without getting state approval. Under the new law, reductions of up to 5 mph areallowed with passage of an ordinance, limited to streets with average speeds of less than30 mph and 2,000 or fewer daily motor vehicle trips.

There were several factors in the success of the bill. Past experience included backlashfrom 24-hour 20 mph school zones, so proponents crafted the bill to aim for anachievable, narrowly-focused change to meet their specific interest. In particular, therequirement that jurisdictions pass an ordinance before changing speed limits wasintended to protect the legislation (and legislators) from backlash due to poorimplementation. A specific issue that came up with the school zone legislation, and that isfrequently an issue in speed limit changes, is the fear that jurisdictions will be able tocreate speed traps to generate revenue.

PBOT also deliberately enlisted some supporters who were not traditional allies for urbantraffic calming activities, most notably AAA and the Oregon Trucking Association. Theseorganizations did more than just endorse the legislation; they actively lobbied for it,because the invitingly slow speed on neighborhood greenways could attract families andslower traffic to those routes, leaving the arterials less congested for freight. This unusualsupport was important to getting the bill passed.

The concept did encountered minor opposition. The most significant challenge was thatsome legislators disliked the neighborhood greenway term, which they found politicallydistasteful. While PBOT staff regrets the loss of the language, which was ultimatelyremoved from the bill, they felt it was worth giving it up to get the bill passed.

Contact: Mark Lear, Portland Bureau of Transportation


8/8

Page 8 of 8

Whats Next?

Working to reduce speeds is a long, challenging process. There are many demonstrated waysto reduce traffic speed, but making widespread changes in traffic speed will take most of themat once and some new ones, too. The more we can communicate and coordinate our effortsnationwide, the more effective all our efforts will be.

Photos from Flickr Creative Commons: Creditto Dylan Passmore, Sara Dent, GroovehouseWaywuwei.

Massachusetts: Changing the default speed limitWalkBoston, a pedestrian advocacy group in Massachusetts, has taken a different tack.The state DOT has taken a strong position against freeing up local jurisdictions to changethe speed limit, because with 351 cities and towns, the opportunity for inconsistency is

just too significant. Instead, the legislation that WalkBoston has been pushing for severalyears would reduce the default speed limit in Massachusetts in urban districts from 30mph to 25 mph. The bill does not seem to have any significant opposition (although it hasbeen difficult to get the legislature to take action on it), but has run up against a technicalproblem that is preventing the campaign from moving forward at this time.The bill defines urban district based on the distance between buildings. This definitionhas two problems. First, it is very difficult to map, and when a proxy variable (residentialdensity) was used, the analysis indicated that very few suburban roads would beaffected, and many important urban roads would also be disqualified. Second, it refers tofunctionally classified local roads which are defined on MassDOTs website as roadsthat provide access to abutting land with little or no emphasis on mobility. These twolimitations means that the speed limit change would apply to very few roads outsidedense urban neighborhoods.

Once the technical problem is overcome, the bill is more likely to progress. WalkBostonhas been building relationships with other nonprofits working on active transportation andpedestrian safety, and this collaboration has strengthened all of their legislative activities.WalkBoston staffmembers are working with regional planning organizations and the stateDOT to ensure that the bill is effective and enforceable.

Documents

How Communities Are Slowing Down