This study from MIT used geo data collected from cars in Milan, Italy, to check the effectiveness of 30 km/h zones in reducing speed.
The first conclusion is that the signs don’t work: 85 percentile speeds are all over the place in 30 km/h zones in Milan, as shown in the figure below:
The second step was finding correlations between speeds and street features extracted from openstreetmap. Results are as expected: narrow, short, curvy sections correlate with lower speeds, as do 1 lane vs more, one way vs 2 ways:
The final step is also interesting: the authors made a model to predict the compliance of 30 km/h speed limit on streets that are 50 km/h at the moment. Useful for urban planning to understand if charging an area to 30 km/h would need structural interventions (like bumps, narrowing of the street…) or not:
There is so much more in the article, I suggest to read it fully.
crossposted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/114827312307353297
So the limit is what matters, but it has to actually be enforced. Thats some very novel insight hmmmm. But yes, physical filters like bumps are much more effective compared to signs.
If the limit is setup appropriately. Loads of roads have the limit set where you would think the speed limit is 80km/h but somehow it is set to 50km/h. So everyone ignores the set limit. While at other roads the limit is say 70km/h but you can hardly drive over 50km/h.
The limit should be set to whatever is deemed safe for pedestrians and cyclists in a given location. The road design should then match that speed limit.
So the road should be redesigned to make it hard to drive over 50 (make it more narrow and add traffic calming)
This is Italy we’re talking about, our public officials want zero responsibility so they always set absurdly low limits.
Point is, road design is everything, if you want people to go slow, you can make it so, if it’s an area where people can go faster, design the road accordingly and keep it maintained, don’t let it turn into a crater field, just to later “fix” the problem with a temporary speed limit.
In Milan this would be possible, since it is a rich city, in the rest of Italy, not so easy.
Sounds good TBH. If they also narrow the roads/remove lanes to enforce it, put bike paths/public transit lanes in the free space, and fine anyone driving dangerously, then this is the recipe for a good city.
lol
No. If it is a almost straight road only for cars and such. No bicycle’s or slower vehicles near it. It shut be 80 and their is no reason for it to be 50… At least that are the most cases I come across.
Are there “things” around the road? Houses, workplaces, industrial estates, parks? If so, there will be people walking and cycling on the road, and the speed limit should be 50 (or ideally 30). If it’s just a road in the middle of nowhere, sure, make it 80/100 depending on how well you can maintain it.
Ya especially in Italy! Lol