Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
Just Another Bump in the Road? An Analysis of the Impact of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Speed Reducer Program on Accident Frequency
Abstract Category: Science
Course / Degree: Master of Science in Urban Planning
Institution / University: Columbia University, United States
Published in: 2006
Between 1993 and 2001, New York City experienced a significant decrease in both motor vehicle accidents and traffic related fatalities. During this period, the total number of traffic accidents occurring within the City decreased by 16.6 percent, pedestrian fatalities decreased by 31.3 percent, and bicycle fatalities were reduced by 41.2 percent. This reduction is rather remarkable considering that during this same period, the average number of vehicles entering the City each day increased by 8 percent and the population grew by 9.4 percent. The very notion that automobile accidents and traffic-related fatalities have decreased inversely with traffic volumes and population is counterintuitive, as logic, experience and research all dictate that both of these cohorts should increase invariably with both population and vehicle volumes. The documented increase in traffic safety experienced in New York City can almost certainly be attributed to a series of traffic safety initiatives undertaken by New York City Department of Transportation and funded by both the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Acts. The Speed Reducer Program was one of the more prevalent initiatives to emerge from this effort. Begun in 1996, the Speed Reducer Program proved to be an effective means of reducing vehicle speeds and quickly expanded. Today, there are over 830 speed humps at more than 640 locations citywide. While it is known that New York City speed humps slow vehicles, little is known about their direct impacts on accident frequency. Could speed humps be contributing to the increase in traffic safety?
The main objective of this report is to answer this question by evaluating the impact of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Speed Reducer Program on accident frequency. The analysis evaluates before and after accident rates on 36 local residential street segments (12 in Brooklyn, 12 in the Bronx and 12 in Queens) with speed hump installations as well as 36 match-pair control locations in order to determine what impact, if any, the speed humps were having on motor vehicle accidents.
This study determined that the New York City’s Speed Reducer Program has no measurable impact on accident frequency and therefore could not quantitatively establish a relationship between the documented increase in traffic safety and the use of speed humps. No measurable reduction on accident frequency was evident at individual locations. Taken as a whole, streets treated with speed humps did demonstrate a slightly lower post-installation accident rate, although this reduction was insignificant. There is some evidence that collectively, speed humps are significantly affecting accident frequency in the Bronx, but this appears to be the exception rather than the rule. Generally, the findings of this analysis demonstrate that the overall trend of decreasing accident frequency at both the treated and control sample locations are more consistent with the general decrease in motor vehicle accidents being experienced by New York City as a whole than any intentional effort to reduce collisions at specific locations.
Thesis Keywords/Search Tags:
urban planning, transportation planning, transportation, traffic, traffic calming, speed hump, accident, analysis, New York City
This Thesis Abstract may be cited as follows:
Zaranko, Adam Richard. "Just Another Bump in the Road? An Analysis of the Impact of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Speed Reducer Program on Accident Frequency." M.S. Thesis, Columbia University, 2006
Submission Details: Thesis Abstract submitted by Adam Richard Zaranko from United States on 25-Mar-2007 21:02.
Abstract has been viewed 6615 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
Adam Richard Zaranko Contact Details: Email: adamzaranko@gmail.com
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