CITY OF VICTORIA For the Meeting of October 6, 2016 To: Committee of the Whole Date: September 29,2016 From: Subject: Fraser Work, Director of Engineering and Public Works RECOMMENDATION That Council direct staff to: 1. Retain, monitor and increase enforcement of the 40 km/h and 30 km/h speed zones; 2. Install speed-reader boards in strategic locations along the reduced speed zones, and implement a public awareness campaign to promote reduced speeds; 3. Provide an annual report to Council on collision statistics before in December 2016; 4. Continue to work alongside BC Transit to maximize transit performance throughout the reduced speed zones; 5. Continue to introduce speed control elements in future street designs for these and other required corridors; and 6. Provide Council with another annual update on the reduced speed zone performance, in October 2017. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On September 11, 2014, Council approved amendments to the Streets and Traffic Bylaw, reducing the speed limits on several streets from 50 km/h to 40 km/h, and reducing the speed limit on Cook Street between Southgate Street and Dallas Road from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. Council also endorsed a postinstallation monitoring process, which included collecting speed data on affected streets and parallel routes, where appropriate. The objective of the reduced speed zones was to improve safety for vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrian and cyclist safety is a top priority for the City as stated in the Official Community Plan and the Strategic Plan. These reduced speed zones were installed before the end of December 2014, and a public communication strategy was implemented to inform residents of the changes. Post-installation monitoring studies were conducted in 2015 and the results were compared to 2014 data. Overall, the reduced speed zones are having only a minor impact on vehicle speeds (~2%), with average speeds still above the posted limits. Collision statistics remain close to pre-installation levels, showing minor increases in both pedestrian and cycling collisions, which may or may not be related to the changes. Further monitoring is required to better understand the impacts related to these changes. Due to the lack of desired speed reduction, staff recommend implementing additional education, awareness and enforcement tools to promote slower speeds, including additional speed reader boards and future street redesign, where appropriate. Staff also recommend reporting annually on these changes, annual collision statistics, as well as the assessment of the reduced speed zones on transit performance. Page 1 of 15
PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide Council an update on the impact of the reduced speed limits on several City streets. BACKGROUND In April 2013, staff provided Council with information in relation to a request to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) that they petition the Province of BC to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to limit the default speed limit on a highway in a municipality to 40 km/h. Upon receipt, Council requested staff provide further information on options and recommendations for neighbourhood pilot projects to reduce speed limits. Information on reducing speed limits in neighbourhoods was received by Council on November 28, 2013. In July 2014, Council held a community meeting to solicit public input about proposed speed limit reductions on several City streets. Council subsequently passed the following motion at its meeting on September 11, 2014: That Council approve the following amendments to Schedule B of the Streets and Traffic Bylaw: 1. Reducing the posted speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h for the following streets: a) Richmond Road between Fort Street and Crescent Road; b) Southgate Street; c) Quadra Street; d) Bay Street between Blanshard Street and Richmond Road; including Bay Street between Esquimalt Road and the Point Ellice Bridge; and including Bay Street between Blanshard Street and Richmond Road. e) Douglas Street between Belleville Street and Dallas Road; f) Gorge Road; g) Richardson Street between Cook Street and Gonzales Avenue; h) Within the area of Victoria described in the Official Community Plan as the Downtown Core, except for Blanshard and Douglas Streets, using the lower cost signage option. 2. Reducing the posted speed limit from 50 km/h to 30 km/h for the following street: a) Cook Street between Southgate and Dallas Road 3. That Council endorse the proposed implementation plan, including post-installation monitoring and reporting. The reduced speed limit zones were installed by the end of December 2014. A public communication strategy was implemented including: December 2014 media release noting planned sign installation Information on the City's website, including a map showing the location of the reduced speed limit zones (see Figure 1) Post-installation monitoring was completed in 2015 to assess how motorists had adapted to the new speed limits. Data was compared with information collected prior to installation of the reduced speed limit signs, where available, to determine the effectiveness of the new zones. Page 2 of 15
30 Km/hr 40 km/hr 50 km/hr Figure 1: Reduced speed limit locations Downtown Core: 40 km/hr zone ISSUES & ANALYSIS A number of issues related to the reduced speed zones are addressed in this section of the report, including: traffic performance and monitoring traffic diversion collision statistics public awareness enforcement street design BC Transit impacts Traffic Performance and Monitoring Post-installation traffic studies were conducted in 2015 for a minimum of 36 mid-week hours at each location. Data was compared with 2014 data for all streets except Cook Street; which was a new monitoring location without relevant historic data. The 2015 monitoring program did not include the section of Bay Street between Esquimalt Road and the Point Ellice Bridge, however this location is included in the 2016 and 2017 monitoring programs and results will be provided in the next update. Page 3 of 15
Monitoring results on the change in 85 lh percentile speed 1 and compliance data (percent of vehicles travelling below the posted speed limit) are provided in Appendices A and B respectively. Overall, the 85 th percentile speed results showed that, for the majority of the streets where reduced speed zones were installed, there was a slight reduction in vehicle speed. For the zones with a reduced speed of 40 km/h, the overall average speed reduction was 2% from an average 85 th percentile speed of 46 km/h in 2014 to 45 km/h in 2015. The results indicate more variability in speeds for the lower traffic streets such as Richmond Avenue (11% speed reduction) and Southgate Street (13% speed increase); the reason for this may be the fact that these are both lower volume streets where there is less congestion to promote reduced speeds. Staff will continue to analyze the data and will provide further analysis of the variability in speeds as part of the report to Council on collision statistics later this year. The compliance data results indicate that an average of 53% of all motorists are travelling below the new posted speed limits (ie. 79% of motorists in the downtown core and 38% for the non-downtown core are in compliance). For the streets with the new 40 km/h speed, the percentage of vehicles travelling at over 40 km/h dropped from 46% in 2014 to 44% in 2015. For Cook Street, where the speed limit was reduced to 30 km/h, only 5% of motorists were found to comply with the posted speed limit in 2015 (the 85th percentile speed for Cook Street in 2015 was 48 km/h). Traffic Diversion Haultain Street from Shelbourne Street to Cook Street was identified as a possible parallel route that drivers using Bay Street could choose to avoid congestion. Traffic volumes were monitored on Haultain Street to determine if the lowered speed limits on Bay Street had resulted in diverted traffic. The data indicates that traffic volumes along Haultain Street have not significantly changed since the new speed limits were installed. Therefore, it does not appear drivers are adjusting their route to avoid the new reduced speed zone on Bay Street. Collision Statistics The objective of the reduced speed zones is to improve safety for vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrian and cyclist safety is a top priority for the City, as highlighted in the City's Official Community and Strategic Plans. Collision data is tracked by VicPD, including collisions between street users and bicycles or pedestrians. Historical pedestrian and bicycle collision data over the past 30 years is provided in Appendix C. The overall City trends shows a decrease in both pedestrian and bicycle collisions, which may be attributed to improved street design such as crosswalks, signals and cycling infrastructure. As detailed in Appendix C, the 2015 statistics indicate a slight increase in collisions for pedestrians and cyclists along the 40 km/h streets, and no observable change for Cook Street (30 km/h). For example, in 2015 along the 40 km/h streets, there were 19 pedestrian collisions in 2014 and 22 in 2015, of which most of the collisions occurred at intersections rather than mid-block locations. A single year of statistics after a traffic modification does not provide a broad enough sample base to determine causality, due to year-on-year variability, but does help substantiate some initial recommendations for improvements. Due to both the lack of speed reduction along posted routes, and a lack of reduction in collision frequency, additional measures are deemed prudent to improve the speed compliance, and promote safer transportation along these routes. Continued monitoring and analysis of the City's collision data will inform future recommendations, and will be reported to Council in December 2016. Public Awareness and Speed Indication Public awareness regarding the link between vehicle speed and public safety is a very important component in changing motorist behavior. In order to raise awareness, staff recommend that speed 1 The 85 th percentile speed is the speed that 85% of the traffic travels at or below. Page 4 of 15
reader boards be purchased and installed at strategic locations on these streets. The speed reader boards would advise motorists of their current speed in relation to the posted speed limit. Additional speed reader boards are required to provide improved dynamic signage. Staff estimate that an additional five boards (solar powered and transportable) can be purchased through existing budgets and rotated along these routes to increase awareness. Additional boards need to be considered in the 2017 budget process, and will be staffed appropriately. Once the new speed reader boards are installed, a public awareness campaign through liaison with VicPD would be required to educate motorists. The campaign would include outreach such as media releases, social media posts and website updates. Enforcement VicPD Traffic Division staff conducted monitoring and enforcement efforts on all streets where reduced speed zones were implemented, with priority nearest to playgrounds and school zones - along Richardson Street, between Cook Street and Gonzales Avenue and on Cook Street between Southgate Street and Dallas Road. VicPD indicate they will continue to monitor and enforce the priority streets as well as the other streets based on condition and risk. Staff has been working closely with VicPD on a number of enforcement priorities across the City, and will be holding dedicated meetings in October 2016 to address the top priority enforcement issues, plans and coordination efforts between City staff, bylaw services and police. Staff will report to Council on the outcomes of those discussions, to include actions for the remaining 2016 program, and 2017 plans. Street Design Best practice suggests that, where reduced vehicle speeds on streets cannot be achieved through lower speed limits or enforcement or other horizontal design elements (such as medians, narrow roadways or travel lanes, curb extensions/bulbs, etc.), then vertical speed control elements (such as speed humps, speed tables, speed cushions, etc.) may be appropriate. There are numerous examples of horizontal speed control elements in place throughout City of Victoria neighbourhoods, installed as part of the Neighbourhood Transportation Management Plan program. 2016 capital project examples include: bike lanes on Johnson Street and on Pandora Avenue, sidewalk/curb realignment work on Pembroke Street narrowed roadway on Alpha Street curb and gutter installation on Ryan Street Proposed 2017 projects that include horizontal speed control elements: sidewalk/curb bulb work on Brighton Avenue bike lanes on Fort Street crosswalk installation on Erie Street Vertical elements, such as speed humps, speed tables, or speed cushions, are typically applied on neighbourhood, residential or low-speed streets where large commercial vehicle traffic is discouraged. Examples of vertical speed control elements may be seen in several Victoria neighbourhoods, including speed humps on Washington Avenue and on St. Charles Street, and speed tables at Broad/Pandora, Broad/Johnson, Broad/Yates, and BroadA/iew. The City has several capital construction programs specifically targeting improvements for pedestrians and cyclists - Crosswalk Installations and Upgrades, Pedestrian Master Plan Implementation, Pedestrian Countdown and Audible Pedestrian Signal Installation, and Bicycle Master Plan Implementation. Elements of capital projects through the City's Major Street and Local Street Rehabilitation programs also improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. A continued complete streets design focus for projects within these programs will encourage more walking and cycling. Staff Page 5 of 15
recommend that the City continue to implement speed control elements in future street designs, including the corridors identified in this report. BC Transit Impacts In May 2016, BC Transit sent a letter to the Mayor and Council regarding their concern that there would be reduced on-time performance for frequent transit service routes on arterial roads where the speed limit had been reduced, and a general concern that other road design changes could increase transit travel times and reduce transit service levels. Transit performance depends on numerous factors including speed, such as signal timing, boarding time, payment systems, traffic congestion, numbers of stops, etc. It is important to balance these other factors alongside road speed, to ensure that transit performance is prudently balanced with overall safety. In their letter, BC Transit outlined three requests for the City of Victoria: 1. That their staff be consulted when changes are being considered to roads where transit operates. 2. That the City maintain 50 km/h speed limits on arterial roads identified as Frequent or Rapid Transit Corridors in the Official Community Plan. 3. That the City consider the inclusion of transit priority measures on arterial roads to improve the effectiveness of transit. City staff met with BC Transit in June 2016 to discuss their concerns and City staff are following up as follows: 1. A quarterly City/BC Transit liaison meeting has been established and this provides a forum for open discussion and consultation, including the opportunity to discussion any proposed changes to City roads where transit operates 2. Three of the streets with a reduced speed of 40 km/h are identified as Frequent Transit Network Streets in the Official Community Plan, namely Bay Street, Gorge Road and Quadra Street. City staff recommend that the reduced speeds be maintained on these streets until further assessment of the transit data may support other recommendations. BC Transit have advised that they are experiencing a 30 second to 2 minute delay per run on each of these three streets, and they recently provided the related transit performance data for City review. City staff will continue to work cooperatively with BC Transit staff to optimize transit performance as well as public safety. 3. City staff have already implemented transit priority measures on priority arterial roads (e.g. signal optimization on Douglass Street) and will continue to work with BC Transit to improve the effectiveness of transit within the City. OPTIONS & IMPACTS Option 1: Return speeds to pre-2014 levels (not recommended). Additional monitoring is required to assess the effectiveness of the new speed limits and its implications on overall road-user safety. Option 2: Continue monitoring, educating and enforcing the current reduced speed zones (recommended). Staff further recommend the addition of speed reader boards as a relatively inexpensive way to increase public awareness and influence the objective of improving pedestrian and cyclist safety within the City. 2015-2018 Strategic Plan Improved safety for people walking or riding bikes, through reduced vehicle speeds, is consistent with the Complete Streets/multi-modal approach to planning for transportation projects. Impacts to 2015-2018 Financial Plan Page 6 of 15
There is no impact to the 2015-2018 Financial Plan based on the recommendations in this report. Additional traffic monitoring will be accommodated in the existing operating budget for traffic counts. Additional speed reader boards will be purchased in 2016 with existing Neighbourhood Transportation Management Program (NTMP) funds, which are intended for smaller-scale traffic calming measures in order to reduce speeds and improve safety. Public awareness efforts associated with the new speed reader boards (e.g. media release, social media, website updates) can be accommodated in existing operating budgets. Official Community Plan Consistency Statement Section 7: Transportation and Mobility identifies pedestrians and cyclists at the top of the hierarchy of transportation and mobility priorities. In addition, the Walkable Urban Thoroughfare Guidelines (Fig. 11) provides direction to combine travel function with public realm design in a manner that supports walking, and gives priority to demand management over road capacity increases. The Guidelines specifically note major streets are to be designed to carry traffic 'at moderate speeds'. CONCLUSIONS The monitoring results to date have shown that posting reduced speed limit signs on streets has had some effect on motorist behavior but has not resulted in the desired compliance levels, and increased awareness, education and enforcement is required to reduce speeds to desired levels, and increase safety. Achieving lower vehicle speeds is an important objective to improving public safety and is consistent with the City's OCP and Strategic Plan. Therefore, staff recommend that the reduced speed zones be maintained, monitored and enforced for another year and that additional public awareness strategies be implemented prior to providing another update to Council in October 2017. Respectfully submitted, List of Attachments Appendix A - Monitoring Results - 85 th Percentile Speed Appendix B - Monitoring Results - Compliance Data Appendix C - Collision Data Date: _ (/ c^iixr 3b t1o^g Page 7 of 15
Appendix A Monitoring Results: Change in 85 th Percentile Speed Table: 85 th Percentile Change Speed (km/h) Downtown (50 km/h to 40km/h) 2014 2015 % 800 block Fort Street 43.6 42.8-2 800 block Government Street 38.2 35.6-7 800 block Johnson Street 42.5 39.2-9 800 block View Street 40.7 40.3-1 800 block Yates Street 44.6 47.9 +7 Non-Downtown (50 km/h to 40km/h) 1100 block Bay Street 54.0 50.0-7 1700 block Bay Street 45.7 46.4 +2 300 block Douglas Street 49.0 48.6-1 300 block Gorge Road East 54.0 53.6-1 1400 block Quadra Street 39.3 39.6 +1 1600 block Richardson Street 51.8 49.3-5 700 block Richmond Avenue 51.1 45.7-11 800 block Southgate Street 40.3 45.7 + 13 Average (50 km/h to 40 km/h) 45.8 45.0-2 Cook (50 km/h to 30 km/h) 100 block Cook Street n/a 47.7 n/a Page 8 of 15
Appendix A, continued Map of Non-Downtown Core: 30 km/hr 40 km/hr 50 km/hr!""" Downtown Core: 40 km/hr zone Page 9 of 15
Appendix A, continued Map of Downtown Core: W \ S * 3f if i * % 1* «/» «r u a ' I JI.U * 1.1 9 I I I ST to ] IS Q < 3 k i M 1 VIEW STREET 2014: 40.7 krrvhr 2015: 40.3 knvhr FORT STREET 2014: 43.6 km/hr 2015: 42.8 km/hr GOVERNMENT ST 2014: 38.2 kmtir 2015: 35.6 kmfhr a a l <-e "u Qo 6 ec rr sr Ycte. 30 km/hr 40 km/hr 50 km/hr Downtown Core: 40 km/hr zone Page 10 of 15
Appendix B Monitoring Results - Compliance Data Downtown Core: Downtown Core: % Travelling Below Posted Speed Limit Yates 800 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 % Compliant 2014 (50kmh) % Compliant 2015 (40kmh) Downtown Core: % Exceeding 40 kmh Yates 800 g ^[ View 800 I Johnson 800 Government 800 Fort 800 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 2014 2015 Page 11 of 15
Appendix B, continued Downtown Core: % Exceeding 50 kmh Yates 800 View 800 Johnson 800 Government 800 Fort 800 0.0 3.0 6.0 9.0 12.0 2014 2015 Non-Downtown Core: Non-Downtown Core: % Travelling Below Posted Speed Limit 800 block Southgate 700 block Richmond Avenue 1600 block Richardson Street 1400 block Quadra Street 300 block Gorge Road East 300 block Douglas Street 1700 block Bay Street 1100 block Bay Street 100 block Cook Street 0 20 % Compliant 2014 (50kmh) 40 60 80 i % Compliant 2015 (40kmh) (Cook 30kmh) 100 Page 12 of 15
Appendix B, continued Non-Downtown Core: % Exceeding 40 Km/h 800 block Southgate 700 block Richmond Avenue 1600 block Richardson Street 1400 block Quadra Street 300 block Gorge Road East 300 block Douglas Street 1700 block Bay Street 1100 block Bay Street 100 block Cook Street m 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2014 2015 Non-Downtown Core: % Exceeding 50 Kmh 800 block Southgate 700 block Richmond Avenue 1600 block Richardson Street 1400 block Quadra Street 300 block Gorge Road East 300 block Douglas Street 1700 block Bay Street ttii. 1100 block Bay Street 100 block Cook Street 0.0 S.O 10.0 15.0 20.0 25 0 30.0 35 0 40.0 201S 2014 Page 13 of 15
Appendix C - Collision Data Pedestrian Collision History: 150 Pedestrian Collision History (A I 100 O O 0) -Q E 3 50 0 I S - CD CO LO N C3) CO CO N O) CO U) N I s - I s - C0CO00C0CDO)O)O)O)O) 0)0)0)050)0)0)050)00)0) o o o o CM CM CM CN C\L CM Year Bicycle Collision History: (A C o \tn o O 200 150 100 Bicycle Collision History d) n E 3 50 0 f CN^-CDOOOCMM-CDOOO 000000000)0)0)0)0)0 CM o o co oo o o O M ^ o o O CM 0)0)0)0)0)0)0)0)0)0 CM CM CM CM CM CM CM Year Page 14 of 15
Appendix C, continued Pedestrian and Bicycle Collision Data in Reduced Speed Zones 2011-2015 40kmh zones 30kmh zone Year Pedestrian Collisions Bicycle Collisions Pedestrian Collisions Bicycle Collisions Intersection Mid- Intersection Mid- Mid- Intersection Mid- Intersection Block Block Block Block 2011 14 1 7 4 0 0 1 1 2012 13 1 14 3 0 0 0 1 2013 8 2 7 6 0 0 1 0 2014 15 4 21 5 1 0 0 0 2015 20 2 19 12 0 0 0 1 Page 15 of 15