Posted Speed Limit Setting Procedure and Tool: User Guide (2021)

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51   This section introduces other reference materials that can be used when considering how to address speed within a segment. The materials are listed by date order with the most recent publications first. Speed Management Safety Website • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/. • Date: last modified April 2019. • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration. • Description: This website provides links to several publications and tools along with ongoing research. Speed Management ePrimer for Rural Transition Zones and Town Centers • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/rural_transition_speed_zones.cfm. • Date: January 2018. • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration. • Description: The Speed Management ePrimer for Rural Transition Zones and Town Centers reviews speeding-related safety issues facing rural communities and discusses the basic ele- ments required for data collection, information processing, and countermeasure selection by rural transportation professionals and community decision makers. The ePrimer is presented in six distinct modules developed to allow the reader to move between each to find the desired information, without a cover-to-cover reading. Traffic Calming ePrimer • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/traffic_calm.cfm. • Date: February 15, 2017. • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration. • Description: The ePrimer presents a review of traffic calming practice in eight modules. The ePrimer presents: – A definition of traffic calming, its purpose, and its relationship to other transportation initiatives (like complete streets and context-sensitive solutions). – Illustrations and photographs of 22 different types of traffic calming measures. – Considerations for their appropriate application, including effects and design and instal- lation specifics. S E C T I O N 9 Related Reference Materials

52 Posted Speed Limit Setting Procedure and Tool: User Guide – Research on the effects of traffic calming measures on mobility and safety for passenger vehicles; emergency response, public transit, and waste collection vehicles; and pedestrians and bicyclists. – Examples and case studies of both comprehensive traffic calming programs and neighborhood-specific traffic calming plans. – Case studies that cover effective processes used to plan and define a local traffic calming program or project and assessments of the effects of individual and series of traffic calming measures. Highway Safety Manual • Source: available for purchasing from http://www.highwaysafetymanual.org/Pages/default. aspx. • Date: 2010, with supplement for freeways published in 2014. • Publisher: AASHTO. • Description: The HSM is the premier guidance document for incorporating quantitative safety analysis in the highway transportation project planning and development processes. Speed Management Program Plan • Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/812028-speedmgtprogram.pdf. • Date: April 2012. • Publisher: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, FHWA, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. • Description: The most recent version of the Speed Management Program Plan was published in 2014 and is an update of the original version published in 2005. The document contains strategies based on research related to managing speed through setting and enforcing speed limits and guidance on reducing speeding-related crashes. The document includes specific goals, objectives, and action items for speed management. The report also includes priority areas that transportation professionals are encouraged to focus on. However, over the past 5 years, the topic has evolved to the extent that specific content for each of these elements needs to be updated. A recent FHWA study is developing an updated version. Methods and Practices for Setting Speed Limits: An Informational Report • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa12004/. • Date: April 2012. • Publisher: FHWA (FHWA-SA-12-004) and Institute of Transportation Engineers. • Description: The report describes primary practices and methods to set speed limits and includes an engineering approach, expert systems, optimization, and injury minimization. Guidance for setting speed limits is provided, and case studies are included. The guidance also discusses speed zones including advisory, school zones, work zones, variable speed limits, and transition zones. This includes guidance for when speed transitions are needed and the setting of transition zone speeds. Speed Concepts: Informational Guide • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa10001/fhwasa10001.pdf • Date: December 2009. • Publisher: FHWA (FHWA-SA-10-001).

Related Reference Materials 53   • Description: The guide discusses speed concepts and includes: – Definitions of speed terms (e.g., 85th percentile speed and design speed). – Summary of research on the effects of speed. – Characteristics of speed such as speed distributions and speed profiles. – Processes to document speeds. – Agency roles in addressing speed including establishing speed limits and advisory speeds and enforcing speed limits. – Speed management technique and countermeasures. NCHRP Report 500: Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Volume 23: A Guide for Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes • Source: http://www.trb.org/Publications/Public/Blurbs/A_Guide_for_Reducing_Speeding Related_Crashes_160862.aspx. • Date: 2009. • Publisher: Transportation Research Board. • Description: The guide summarizes the collection and evaluation of speed and crash data. The guide covers strategies to set reasonable and prudent speed limits that account for road- way design, traffic, and environment. The guide also covers increasing drivers’ awareness of the risks of driving at unsafe speeds. MUTCD for Streets and Highways • Source: https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/. • Date: last modified December 2009. • Publisher: FHWA. • Description: The MUTCD is the national standard for signing on all highways. Sec- tions 2B.13–16 address regulatory speed limits, Section 2C addresses advisory speed signs, Section 7B addresses school zone speed limit signs, and Section 6C addresses work zone speed limits. USLIMITS2 • Source: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/uslimits. • User Guide for USLIMITS2: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/uslimits/documents/appendix-l- user-guide.pdf. • Date: March 2008 for initial development, December 2017 for updated user guide. • Publisher: U.S. Department of Transportation, FHWA. • Description: USLIMITS2 is a web-based tool that was designed to assist practitioners in set- ting consistent and safe speed limits. It is used to set speed limits for specific segments of roads and can be used on all types of roads (local roads to freeways). Speed Enforcement Program Guidelines • Source: https://www.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa09028/resources/ Speed Enforcement Program Guidelines.pdf%23page=1. • Date: March 2008.

54 Posted Speed Limit Setting Procedure and Tool: User Guide • Publisher: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. • Description: The objective of the guidelines is to provide law enforcement personnel and decision-makers with tools to establish and maintain an effective speed management pro- gram. The guidelines include: – Identification of the problem. – Legislative, regulation, and policy. – Program management, including public outreach. – Enforcement countermeasures. – Program evaluation.