Example of calming measures

1. Example of calming measures To ensure increased neighborhood support: Neighbors shouldn’t inadvertently become the target of new actions Non-Residents should no longer want to use our roads New measures should work - not just become another stop sign that gets ignored

2. A real-life calming measure that worked • A: Main road similar to Bascom • B:Residential area flanked by a hospital • C: Through-fare favored by commuters avoiding backlogs on A C A B

3. A real-life calming measure that worked • Interesting things to understand about this area • Road A is a dual lane carriageway (meaning two lanes in each direction) and allows for 50 MPH • Road A is a main commuter road between Liverpool and Ormskirk • Road C bypasses a section of Road A that often backs up • Road C doesn’t have a speed designation, this means users can use the road at the ‘national speed limit; 70MPH’ • Road C runs along side a small residential area and is flanked by a major hospital • Road C is a single lane carriageway (meaning one lane in each direction) C A B

4. A real-life calming measure that worked • Interesting things to understand about this area • Residents complained about speed NOT about the fact it was a thoroughfare for traffic avoiding Road A. • Local government implemented a 30MPH speed limit • Speed checks effected locals but didn’t stop commuters speeding nor did it reduce traffic • Speed checks are not 24hr • Local cities only needed to show they did speed checks • Commuters rarely saw them and avoided them through laws of averaging • Locals rarely saw them but fall foul due to laws of averaging C A B

5. A real-life calming measure that worked • Residents asked for new changes to stop the through-fare • Speed limit was returned to national speed limit (70MPH) • YET… New speed calming measures reduced the average speed on the road to ~30MPH • Residents did not feel hindered by measures • No stop signs (no stopping for no reason) • No traffic lights (No stopping for no reason) • No Police speed checks needed (All motorists abide by the road condition, not the one motorist at the time the police were there) • No static speed cameras (Cameras cost $40K per year to operate - taxes)

6. A real-life calming measure that worked • Point round-about • No Stop Signs, drivers have to remain aware of other traffic • No complacency – the road isn’t straight, drivers have to remain engaged with the task at hand • Visual attraction • Round-aboutsdon’t have to be roads, they can be decoratedwith trees, boulders, etc. • They can look like features, not concrete.

7. A real-life calming measure that worked • Lane size reduction and obstacles • Adding obstacles and reducing lane width • Keeps driver engaged – increases awareness • Automatically slows traffic • Does not stop traffic • Ensures flow • Reduces pollution • Keeps drivers engaged

9. Real-life calming measures that didn’t work • Speed Cameras • Speed cameras are common in Europe • They are permanent installations mounted at the side of the road • Numbers • In 2001, The Dept. of Transport declared UK having the safest roads in the world per KM • In 2011, the UK had the highest number of speed cameras in the world • UK – 10,040 • Germany – 9863 • France - 8722 • Italy - 5650 • Spain - 2302

10. Real-life calming measures that didn’t work • 2012 • Static speed cameras deemed a success in terms of revenue generation • One UK camera raised USD $6.5 million over 4 years • Static speed cameras deemed a failure in terms of speed reduction • 1 in 5 UK motorists have been caught by a speed camera • Typical motoring habits in UK have not changed since the national roll-out of the camera in the UK (2001) • Camera locations are known. • Drivers simply accelerate between cameras and brake hard for cameras • Drivers distract themselves looking for cameras rather than looking for the real issues • Result: • Local government made to paint cameras bright yellow to advise motorists of danger zones. Now if caught by camera, penalties higher • Local governments removing static cameras as safety didn’t change and revenues dwindle. • Speed averaging cameras replacing static cameras • (Speed averaging cameras record license plates. If a license plate is seen in two different locations a time/distance calculation is performed. This method removed the hard braking fast accelerating phenomena)

11. Real-life calming measures that didn’t work • Stop Signs • Stop signs are similar to static speed cameras • People accelerate hard and brake hard but the space in the middle is a race course • People focus in on the stop sign, they don’t look around • Yield signs maintain moving targets, drivers maintain awareness over other traffic • Over use of the stop sign has resulted in complacency, they are no longer taken seriously • Interesting sites questioning whether stop signs work to control speed • http://www.louisvilleky.gov/PublicWorks/stopsignstrafficcontrol.htm • http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/distracting-miss-daisy/306873/ • http://www.averillwoods.org/do-stop-signs-work.html

12. Recommendations • Don’t focus on measures that effect locals primarily • Locals will pay the price by laws of averaging • Commuters will barely see the difference and may continue with their habits • Focus on measures that discourage commuters from the area • Enable measures that keep drivers engaged • Restrictions will only encourage a ‘No Vote’ • Focusing on the wrong thing WON’T solve the problem • ‘Speeding’ is an arbitrary number. What makes people drive at a given speed is the environment. Change that, but change it wisely.

13. Thoroughfare reduction (Example: Traffic flow right to left. Please also remember this is spread out over a mile, this chart is NOT to scale) Sign: Oncoming Traffic has priority Yield (Not Stop) Traffic Island (Visually pleasing, yet obstructing) Example traffic flow Traffic slowing, yet, Traffic flowing

14. Thoroughfare reduction (Example: Traffic flow left to right. Please also remember this is spread out over a mile, this chart is NOT to scale) Sign: Oncoming Traffic has priority Sign: Oncoming Traffic has priority, do not block junction Yield (Not Stop) Traffic Island (Visually pleasing, yet obstructing) Example traffic flow Traffic slowing, yet, Traffic flowing

15. Example Explanation • The chart is not to scale so it looks more complicated than it is, it also tried to show a number of solutions in one picture. Its intent is to offer solutions, not THE solution. • Yield signs rather than stop signs allow traffic to flow and stops hard braking and accelerating (also reduces pollution both in terms of air and noise) • Yield signs allow flow if traffic enables but stop traffic when required • Weaving islands can be visually pleasing while also naturally limiting speed, they also keep the driver engaged on the task of driving • Signs and yield marking provide a direction priority in the weaving obstacles • Speed pillows on the exit of a weaving obstacle can add as an additional slowing mechanism • Symmetrical islands (such as those at the far right of the chart), narrow the entrance and slows traffic on entry to the neighborhood road system