A new study into lower speed limits in major European cities has laid bare the wide-ranging benefits for residents and road users – and they include reductions in crash fatalities, noise pollution, transport emissions and fuel consumption.
The paper, published in the journal Sustainability, examined the effects of broadly applied 30km/h speed limits in 40 different European cities.
The list includes Paris, Brussels, Zurich, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Glasgow, Bilbao, Edinburgh and Graz in Austria, which was the first major European city to introduce general 30km/h speed limits in all city areas in 1992.
The study authors conducted a literature review with a focus on parameters such as environment, energy consumption, traffic patterns, liveability, and public health before and after city-wide 30km/h speed limits were implemented.
The team’s findings build on much of the prevailing wisdom around 30km/h speed limits for urban areas, demonstrating an average reduction in road crashes of 28%, reduction in fatalities of 37% and injuries of 38%.
The authors also detail a suite of environmental benefits including an average reduction in noise pollution of 2.5dB, reduction in fuel consumption of 7% and reduction in transport emissions of 18%.
Resistance to 30km/h speed limits is often based on the idea that they increase traffic congestion and travel times, but the authors found this to be negligible at around 3% to 5%.
They noted that “In urban centres, traffic flows most smoothly at speeds of 20-30 km/h”, and despite shorter following distances, “this speed range facilitates the entry of traffic from side streets, ensuring continuous flow”.
In Zurich, this effect was so profound that safer speed limits meant the streets were able to accommodate more cars and travel times actually improved.
The UN recommends 30km/h speed limits in urban areas to improve road safety and combat climate change by encouraging alternative modes of transport, and this was demonstrated clearly in Bilbao, where bike trips increased almost six-fold after the changes were made.
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