Chapter 1 - What is Traffic Calming?

Introduction

Traffic calming may seem contradictory to the traditional sense of traffic engineering. Instead of trying to move a large volume of vehicles as fast as possible, traffic calming attempts to reduce vehicular volumes and speeds. Through various techniques, traffic calming slows vehicles down to make roads friendlier to pedestrians, bicyclists, and the surrounding community. In essence, traffic calming requires a fundamental re-thinking of planning and organization of our roadways. Traffic calming places a revived emphasis on the quality of life, rather than the quantity of vehicles.

Definitions of Traffic Calming

Traffic calming is a term used differently by different people. Since it is a relatively new idea in the United States, traffic calming is not completely accepted in a standardized, set definition. Different sources express different aspects of traffic calming in their own way. To gain an understanding of what traffic calming really is, we can look at a number of definitions from a number of sources:

ITE's "Traffic Calming: State of the Practice"

"Traffic calming involves changes in street alignment, installation of barriers, and other physical measures to reduce traffic speeds and/or cut-through volumes, in the interest of street safety, livability, and other public purposes."

ITE Subcommittee on Traffic Calming

"Traffic calming is the combination of mainly physical measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users."

Canadian Guide to Neighborhood Traffic Calming

"Traffic calming involves altering of motorist behavior on a street or on a street network. It also includes traffic management, which involves changing traffic routes or flows within a neighborhood."

Montgomery County, Maryland

"Traffic calming consists of operational measures such as enhanced police enforcement, speed displays, and a community speed watch program, as well as such physical measures as edgelines, chokers, chicanes, traffic circles, and (for the past four years) speed humps and raised crosswalks."

Public Technology Incorporated (PTI) “Slow Down You’re Going Too Fast!”

“Methods used to reduce vehicular speed and volume, and increase the sharing of streets by pedestrians and other users. Generally refers to physical measures and roadway design changes, but enforcement and education can be components.”

Citizens Advocating Responsible Transportation, “Traffic Calming, The Solution to Urban Traffic and a New Vision For Neighborhood Livability”

“Traffic calming is a holistic, integrated traffic planning approach based on common sense which seeks to maximize mobility while creating a more livable city by reducing the undesirable side effects of that mobility. One definition of traffic calming is ‘environmentally compatible mobility management’.”

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kbarrett/trafcalm.htm

This definition comes from a site developed by a group of concerned Wakefield Massachusetts citizens: “Traffic calming is the redesign/reconstruction of roadways and roadsides to physically and mentally encourage "calmer" (slower) traffic speeds.”

Conclusion

Each of these definitions carries truth, however, they can be very limiting in the overall scope. In this publication, we understand traffic calming in a much broader sense: traffic calming is any measure that enhances the livability of roads by eliminating the undesirable affects of vehicles. Vehicles are not the central subject, but a component of a multi-modal street network. In order to reduce such undesirable affects we must alter the motorist's behavior through physical measures, authoritative enforcement, education, etc.

This chapter originally written by Dan Ferster, 1999, as part of a senior project.