Speed Reduction Case Studies: Portland, Seattle, Washington, DC

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Three more case studies showing how cities across the country have used a variety of measures to reduce speeds and increase biking and walking.

Portland, Oregon: Neighborhood Greenway Initiative 

Portland, already known for its commitment to cycling and pedestrian mobility, created its Neighborhood Greenways plan to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and further encourage biking and walking. The plan converted and expanded existing Bicycle Boulevards into a network of Neighborhood Greenways, residential streets designed to prioritize bicycles and pedestrians over automobile traffic. Typically, greenway speed limits are 20 mph and traffic volume is 250–1,000 cars per day.The Neighborhood Greenways initiative uses speed bumps to achieve the desired 20 mph operating speed.

Photo courtesy of HRIA

The City has already created a network of greenways that reaches a quarter of residents in Portland, and hopes to expand that number to 80 percent by 2015. Creation costs for each mile of greenway are about $150,000 per mile, in part because the city was able to use existing trail connections and routes with signals. Funding for Portland’s Neighborhood Greenways comes from a variety of sources, including general transportation revenue and transportation grant-funding, as well as Safe Routes to Schools grants. 

While there is not yet enough data to measure a reduction in injuries and fatalities associated with Neighborhood Greenways, bicycle volumes increased by approximately 6.4 percent between 2010 and 2011 and within the same timeframe, 61 percent more bicycles were counted at 11 locations on newly developed neighborhood greenways.

Seattle, Washington: A Multi-Faceted Approach To Speed Reduction

As part of its 2012 Road Safety Action Plan, the City of Seattle set a goal of zero traffic-related fatalities by 2030 and identified speed reduction as one of six priority areas to help achieve that goal. A key reason for this was to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety: while the number of collisions in Seattle dropped from 2000 to 2010, collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists did not.

Seattle addressed speeding in four broad ways: 

1. Policy: Pending state legislation would allow the City of Seattle to reduce speed limits on low-volume, low-speed residential roads more easily.
2. Education: The City promotes safe driving through its Be Super Safe campaign, which targets males ages 16-24.
3. Environment: Seattle makes physical changes to the road, such as road diets and upgrading signage, to make drivers aware of speed limits and encourage reduced speeds. As part of the City's Arterial and Neighborhood Traffic Calming program, Seattle has implemented over 30 road diets and implemented an automated enforcement program
4. Enforcement: The City increases police and automated enforcement of speed limits

The City allocated $200,000 from the General Fund in 2013 and 2014 with emphasis on speed reduction measures, as well as $2.1 million for pedestrian and bicycle enhancement and $1.5 million for pedestrian, bicycle, and greenway additions. The work is also funded through state grants. 

Washington, DC: Automated Speed Enforcement 

Photo courtesy of HRIA

In 2001, nearly 60 percent of traffic fatalities in Washington, DC were speed-related. Based on evidence that consistent enforcement of traffic laws effectively changed driver behavior, the City created a Photo Enforcement Program to address speeding problems. The program uses 

stationary and portable photo radar cameras, cameras in vehicles, and intersection safety cameras to enforce speed limits. Currently there are 10 permanent sites and 15 portable sites within the city, in addition to up to 18 vehicles with photo enforcement deployed six days a week. 

The City typically sees a 60 to 80 percent reduction in speeding violations within a few 

months of cameras being deployed at a site. Overall, the number of traffic fatalities in DC has dropped from 68 in 2003 to 19 in 2012, average speeds among all vehicles in DC have been reduced, and the rate of speeding over 10 mph above the speed limit has dropped from one in three drivers to just one in 40.

To build community support for the program, the City worked hard to communicate its goals and intended outcomes to the community by speaking at citizen meetings and soliciting input on where to place cameras. As a result, the program enjoys strong community support, with 76 percent of those surveyed favored speed cameras.