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NS765: Effectiveness of school zone speed limits as a traffic calming strategy
Problem
Minnesota Statutes 169.14, Subd. 5a provides local agencies with the authority to establish school zone speed limits (SZSL). As a result, local agencies such as counties and cities are faced with requests to implement school zone speed limits because they are assumed to be effective. There is limited research in Minnesota related to the effectiveness of SZSLs, especially cross-sectional studies that consider different roadway contexts. Therefore, local agencies are faced with challenging decisions with limited information as to whether to implement a SZSL and, if they do, to what magnitude.
Objective
The objective of this research project would be to evaluate SZSLs that have been implemented across a variety of roadway contexts that include variables such as rural/urban context, community size, traffic volumes, speed limits, lane geometry, functional classification, presence of pedestrian and bike facilities, adjacent land use and level of school pedestrian/bicycle activity.
The proposed research should also consider the effectiveness of combining other enhancement strategies such as law enforcement, flashing devices and signing/marking upgrades.
Finally, the proposed research should include a synthesis of the implementation of SZSLs to better understand the definition of a school zone for the purposes of implementing SZSLs.
Previous research
A literature search was conducted by the MnDOT library for related research. Relevant findings are listed in the next section. Abstracts can be found in the full literature search document.
- School Zone Speed Limits (SZLSs) Transportation Research Synthesis
- Do enhanced school zone policies improve pedestrians' safety? A deep learning-based case study of Osan City, South Korea
- 20mph speed limits and zones for better public health: Meta-narrative evidence synthesis
- Effects of tougher school zone laws on road traffic safety in school zones for children in South Korea
- Road users’ behaviour in the "30 km/h zones". The case study of Bologna
- Research on School Zone Safety
- Assessing a Two-Step Posted Speed Reduction as a Potential Countermeasure to Improve Safety in School Zones Using Driving Simulation
Expected outcomes
- New or improved business practices, procedure, or process
- New or improved decision support tool, simulation, or model/algorithm (software)
Expected benefits
The numbers 1 and 2 indicate whether the source of the benefit measurement is from:
- A specific research task in your project that will be measuring this particular benefit, or
- A separate effort to analyze data provided by the state or local agency involved in this project.
- Safety: (1)
- Artificial speed limits (those that are not supported by roadway context) are known to not effect a change in vehicle operating speeds and can increase the risk of crashes, including those crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists. It is important to utilize a data driven approach to making decisions related to speed limits, which includes school zone speed limits. This research will provide a clearer understanding of the effectiveness of school zone speed limits based on a variety of factors and therefore will help support the implementation of school zone speed limits that truly improve the safety of students that choose to walk or bike to school.
- Decrease Engineering/Administrative Cost: (2)
- This research will help local agencies make better decisions so they do not assume they are making in a positive difference when in fact they may not be or, worse, making a less safe environment because of a false sense of security.
Technical advisory panel
- TBD