Effectiveness of Automated Speed Enforcement in School Zones and Guidance for Continuous Usage in Georgia

Details

• Creators:
  Dissanayake, Sunanda ; Bhavsar, Parth ; Gunathilaka, Sarala
• Corporate Creators:
  Kennesaw State University
• Corporate Contributors:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Automated Enforcement Automated Speed Enforcement Automated Vehicle Control Before And After Studies Cameras Compliance Crash Modification Factors Evaluation Schools Speed Zones Traffic Speed

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-GA-26-2315
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Georgia
• Edition:
  Final Report (January 2024–January 2026
• Corporate Publisher:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research
• Abstract:
  One of the growing concerns for transportation agencies is speed management in school zones, as it is vital to children's safety. Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) is one of the measures to address speed management concerns. As of January 2024, approximately 286 schools across Georgia were equipped with ASE cameras, aiming to improve traffic safety in school zones. This research project was carried out to quantitatively evaluate the effect of ASE on safety in school zones. A comprehensive crash analysis was performed to estimate Crash Modification Factors (CMFs) using two approaches: (1) a before-and-after study with the EB approach, only considering treated schools and (2) a before-and-after study using the comparison-group method. A speed study was performed to collect speed data at schools with and without ASE, estimate key parameters, determine the percentage of drivers who exceeded school zone speed limits, and perform relevant statistical tests to compare speed variance distributions and speed distributions. A road user survey was conducted, and responses were analyzed through descriptive statistics and cross-classification. The results of the crash study indicated that, after implementing ASE cameras, total crashes have been reduced by 10 percent and 9 percent within the school zones at on-system and off-system treated schools, respectively. Also, speeding-related crashes have been reduced by 35 percent and 54 percent at on-system and off-system schools, respectively. Overall, ASE was found to be effective in reducing total crashes and speeding-related crashes in school zones, resulting in CMFs below 1.0 across all scenarios considered in this study. The results of the speed study indicated that treated schools experienced lower speed variances, higher driver compliance, and lower mean, 50th percentile, and 85th percentile speeds than control schools. At treated schools, the percentage of drivers exceeding school zone speed limits by more than 10 mph was 36 percent lower compared to control schools. At a 95 percent confidence level, the observed speed variance and speed distribution curves at treated schools were significantly lower than that at control schools. In summary, ASE was found to be an effective enforcement practice for speed management, resulting in improved safety in school zones.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  PI# 0019917
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:233af88bf24a83ec5184c153662212b1ef938cb2ed61838b7019470983a97d4699f15f8d1ae31999beba1a1f947209c90a9d47d9d36709d20e04fd42a8562609
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/88896/dot_88896_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.87 MB ]