Traffic Calming: Designing for Safer Roads and Livable Places

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

• Provide an overview of holistic neighbourhood traffic planning and design, highlighting challenges, effectiveness, and success strategies
• Explain the most common principles and planning processes involved in implementing traffic calming measures
• Explore various design techniques and application processes for effective traffic-calming
• Analyze different tools and redesign components used in traffic planning, with a focus on program deployment and implementation
• Engage participants with in-class case studies and applications, including completing area plans and designing solutions for their local neighbourhoods

Description
Traffic calming techniques use physical design and other measures to reduce the vehicle's negative impacts, such as reducing excessive traffic speed and cut-through volume, altering driver behaviour and improving overall safety benefits for non-motorists like pedestrians, micro-mobility users and cyclists on residential streets and community paces. This course covers methods and best traffic calming practices used by professional planners, engineers, and consultants/researchers. A key objective of this course is to help you become better at planning and designing traffic calming measures using industry standards and guidelines.

The intended audience is anyone responsible for receiving complaints or inquiries about speeding and cut-through traffic issues and developing plans for municipal projects as a consultant and practitioner. This includes engineers, public works superintendents, municipal managers, planners, etc. Law enforcement and elected officials may also benefit from this course.

Who Should Attend
Planners • Municipal Engineers • Law enforcement • Community leaders, decision-makers and politicians • Supervisors • Managers • Construction Managers • Educators • Students

The course is broadly divided into three parts:

Part 1: This course introduces how a municipality, consultants and practitioners can establish a traffic calming program for roadways to increase safety and accessibility. The course starts with defining traffic calming and the fundamentals of various concepts and approaches. It will describe traffic calming purposes and their relationship to other transportation initiatives (like complete streets and context-sensitive solutions). Effects of application, potential challenges and benefits for all types of street users, including truck-dependent, emergency services and other critical services affected by the traffic calming measures

Part 2: This section of the course focuses on developing a traffic calming program, strategies and steps for planning, design, application, implementation, and effectiveness of the various types of traffic calming devices. This part will discuss considerations for their appropriate application, including effects and, design and installation specifics. Research on the impact of traffic calming measures on mobility and safety for passenger vehicles, emergency response, public transit, waste collection vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will be provided to understand the broader effectiveness of traffic calming measures.

Part 3: This section will focus on the practical application of case studies of traffic calming measures in areas or neighbourhoods selected by participants. The class could be divided into two or three groups. Illustrations and photographs of different types of traffic calming measures will assist in thinking about applying tools to their selected areas. Examples and case studies of comprehensive traffic calming programs and neighbourhood-specific traffic calming plans will assist in performing the class exercise. Participants will subsequently complete applying tools and potential design components and complete case studies. 

Day 1: Introduction and Fundamentals

• Introduction, the definition of traffic calming and difference/similarity with a road diet, complete street,
• Fundamental of traffic calming concepts, policy issues and initial challenges,
• Introduction to traffic calming toolbox, essential components, overall principles,
• Effects of traffic calming on reducing negative impacts on vehicle users,
• Effects of traffic calming on reducing negative impacts on vehicle passengers,
• Effects of traffic calming on reducing negative impacts on non-automobile street users,
• Health, safety, energy and environmental benefits of traffic calming,
• Introduction to engineering guidelines such as ITE, FHWA, NACTO, and best city policies

Day 2: Developing Program, Planning and Design of Traffic Calming

• Planning Traffic calming: Developing municipal programs, policies, action plans, implementation
• Developing effective traffic strategies using proper data collection, measurement, analysis techniques,
• Identifying common measures, warrant development, applicable locations of horizontal, vertical and surface treatment of traffic calming,
• Understanding street design and traffic engineering tools of traffic calming,
• Details of design elements: Diagonal parking, changing one-way to two-way streets, widening sidewalk, narrowing lanes for streets, bulbs/chokers/neckdowns, chicanes, roundabouts, traffic circles, raised medians, tight corner radius, diverters, street humps/speed tables/cushions, rumble strips and other horizontal treatments
• Evaluation of traffic calming measures, cost-effectiveness, and funding sources.

Day 3: Design Examples, Illustration and Traffic Calming Exercise

• Selection of case study locations for each group(s),
• Class case study exercise for traffic calming cases, application method for selected areas
• Identify locations or streets using data, traffic tools, analysis techniques,
• Identify suitable types, design components, cost of projects, implementation process and steps
• Off-site class exercise for neighbourhood traffic calming project planning and design