TxDOT Research Library - TxDOT Research Project

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Improving and Communicating Speed Management Practices

What Was the Need?

Speed limits are among the most visible and routinely enforced traffic control devices motorists encounter in their everyday driving. They are also associated with safety in a broad range of forums, from neighborhood residents concerned with their children's safety to national safety agencies calling into question the rationale for speed limit setting procedures used by the vast majority of engineering practitioners. Given this high degree of exposure and scrutiny, speed limits – and the practices and procedures used to develop them, inform drivers, and help enforcement of them – must be appropriate for their environment, defensible from an engineering and legal perspective, and comprehensible to the full range of mobility and safety stakeholders. In short, speed limits are a highly complex engineering, human factors, and political issue belied by the simplicity of a black-on-white, two-digit regulatory sign.

Project Summary

This research work plan is designed to increase the profession’s understanding of the fundamental relationships between posted and operating speed, develop consistent procedures for the establishment of posted speed limits and the use of technologies to increase driver awareness and comprehension, and provide content to support external and internal TxDOT dialog about speed limits and their development for all roadway environments. Historical procedures for posted speed limit setting based on 85th percentile speed will be leveraged for their utility, where appropriate, but revised to current practice based on sensitivity to roadway characteristics and driving environment context.

Project Number

0-7049

Status

Completed

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Project Details

Start Date

12/20/2019

End Date

8/31/2022

Performing Institution(s)

Texas A & M Transportation Institute (TTI)

Research Team

Research Supervisor: Kay Fitzpatrick

Sponsor

Project Manager

Shelley Pridgen

Contract Specialist

Tami Graham

TxDOT Advisor

Dale Picha

Amount Funded

$501,006

Publications from this Project

Publications Note

For recently completed projects without publications, unpublished technical memos may be available internally to TxDOT staff and researchers. Please contact the Project Manager (PM) if more information is needed.

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