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Title:

Evaluation of Posted Speed Limits Reductions on Urban Roads with a High Percentage of Cyclists

Accession Number:

01836407

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Find a library where document is available


Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981

Abstract:

This paper presents a before and after analysis of the impact of posted speed limit (PSL) changes on passenger car (FHWA class 2 vehicle) speeds in Portland, Oregon. The study focuses on urban roads, comparing sites that underwent a PSL 5-mph reduction (treatment sites) and sites where the PSL did not change (control sites). Sites with a high percentage of and priority for cyclists (neighborhood greenways) and sites with a more standard traffic composition were compared. Differences in speed characteristics such as mean and 85th percentile speeds, the speed variance, and the proportion of vehicles exceeding a speed threshold (relative to the PSL) were evaluated on aggregate and individual scales. A series of statistical hypothesis tests were employed to assess changes in the speed characteristics among individual data set pairs. The results suggest distinct differences between the treatment and control groups and neighborhood greenway and non-greenway sites. Although there is a high degree of variability, the treatment group experienced more decreases in the speed characteristics, and by a greater amount than the control group, on average. Within the treatment group, sites with a priority for cyclists were even more likely to experience a larger reduction in operating speeds. These results could be interpreted as link-level data providing indirect yet supporting evidence for the safety in numbers hypothesis and changes in motorists’ behavior on neighborhood greenways.

Supplemental Notes:

Jaclyn S. Schaefer https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1753-6605 © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2022.

Language:

English

Authors:

Schaefer, Jaclyn S

ORCID 0000-0003-1753-6605

Figliozzi, Miguel A

ORCID 0000-0003-2120-4929

Unnikrishnan, Avinash

ORCID 0000-0001-6737-0485

Pagination:

pp 685-695

Publication Date:

2022-6

Serial:

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

Volume: 2676
Issue Number: 6
Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
ISSN: 0361-1981
EISSN: 2169-4052
Serial URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/trr

Media Type:

Web

Features:

References (27)

Geographic Terms:

Portland (Oregon)

Subject Areas:

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Feb 19 2022 3:00PM