SLOWER SPEED LIMITS MOVE MORE TRAFFIC, CUT PED CRASHES
-> The Urban Reality blog reports on a study conducted by the Helsinki, Finland City Planning Department. (Speed Management in Helsinki: http://bit.ly/2kLJzKd) The 2004 study noted since the early 1970s, the number of traffic fatalities per year has dropped dramatically in spite of doubling of car mileage. Speed management has been the most important single factor behind this development. Helsinki originally reduced speed limits on their highways in 1973 and cut the number of pedestrian crashes in half. After a series of interim speed reductions on various types of roads, the city reduced all its 50 & 40 km/hr speed limits to 40 & 30 km/hr (25 - 18.6 mph) in 2004.The study notes slowing down cars can actually move more people who are driving as the capacity of a lane depends on the intervals between successive vehicles. The slower the leading car drives in front of a queue, the closer the next car can follow. It looks like the optimal speed in urban street network for capacity is somewhere between 30 and 40 kilometers per hour. http://bit.ly/2kHfmMt
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
What's Related