Evaluation of the Automated Speed Enforcement Program of the City of Regina PDF Download

Author: Zi Wang
Publisher:
ISBN:
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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Government of Saskatchewan launched the Automated Speed Enforcement Program in the province of Saskatchewan, aiming to reduce the driving speed at some of the highrisk locations, and, hence, to improve road safety. The program is focused on some high speeding violation and high collision locations on the Highway network, as well as some of the high-risk collision school zone locations in Regina, Saskatoon, and Moose Jaw. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Automated Speed Enforcement Program on the school zones-not only on collisions in the school zones, but also speed changes at the speed camera location and adjacent roadways. At the same time, this study evaluates the effectiveness of speed cameras under various conditions. Lastly, regression models were developed using traffic counts, so that traffic engineers and road authorities will be able to determine the benefits of installing the Automated Speed Camera Enforcement System at alternative locations. And, hence, to ensure that a speed camera installed at a particular school zone will achieve its objective. To achieve the objective of the thesis, a large amount and variety of data needed to be obtained, such as vehicle speed, volume, and type, physical road conditions, classification, configuration, and detailed collision data, etc. The program shows an incredibly positive result on lowering driving speed, especially at the camera location. At most of the locations, drivers will try to slow down more at the camera location and drive with a slightly higher speed at both upstream and downstream locations. The compliance rate during summertime is a little bit worse than when school is in session, but most drivers will slow down when passing the school zones during summer break. Unfortunately, the data also shows different results for different directions of traffic. The direction backing the speed camera will have a better result on speed reduction than the opposite direction. Furthermore, comparison of data before and after speed camera installation shows that the Automated Speed Enforcement Cameras significantly reduced the speed. Three equations were generated by doing regression modelling. One equation can predict the actual 85th percentile speed at a school zone location after a speed camera is installed. Another equation can estimate the 85th percentile speed when vehicles pass the automated enforcement camera, but are still within the school zone. The last equation can predict the 85th percentile speed when vehicles have entered the school zone but have not yet reached the speed camera location. The data also shows both the total number of collisions and the severity of collisions has decreased since the program started. Additionally, the program has also obtained public support.