01126614

Component

Researchers conducted an observational study on operating speeds within school zones in Texas to determine speed characteristics and possible relationships between speed and distance. The research team conducted a field study to collect speed-distance profiles at school zones in 17 locations across the state, and they analyzed the data based on school speed limit and length of school zone. Based on an analysis of the data, researchers concluded that operating speeds increase as the distance from the start of the school zone increases; trends based on percent of school zone length and absolute distance in the school zone showed steady increases in speed as vehicles travel further through the zone. Though most deceleration takes place upstream of the school zone, some deceleration occurs downstream of the beginning of the school zone. The minimum speed in a school zone typically occurred between 15 and 30 percent of the school zone length. Regardless of the length of the school zone or the school speed limit, drivers tended to achieve their minimum speed within the first 350 ft for low-speed sites and within 800 ft for higher-speed sites. The minimum speed in a speed zone always occurred in the first half of the school zone but was rarely maintained into the second half of the zone.

01120148

09-3031

English

17p

2009

Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (5) ; References (5) ; Tables (7)

Operating speed; Operations; School safety; Speed limits; Speed zones; Traffic data; Traffic speed

Speed distance relationships

Texas

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-3031

TRIS, TRB

Jan 30 2009 7:25PM