Date: June 17, 2021
Author(s): Asiya Patel
Abstract
The city of Los Angeles adopted a Vision Zero policy intending to eliminate fatal traffic deaths by 2025, but this vision will be difficult to fully achieve without lowering cut-through traffic in residential neighborhoods. To this end, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has implemented traffic-calming measures throughout the city, recognizing that collisions may not be entirely preventable but can be reduced in likelihood and severity through roadway design. The department has a process whereby residents can apply for speed humps quarterly but the program is oversubscribed. Traffic calming is in high demand; however, few studies address the issue in Los Angeles within the past few years. This policy brief summarizes a study that addresses the safety outcomes of traffic-calming measures installed throughout the city in recent years, with a sensitivity toward the cost of implementation, an important constraint that Los Angeles is bound by given its size and sprawling network of streets. This study found that the severity and number of collisions reduced as a result of introducing all traffic-calming measures, and that speed humps are the most cost-effective and proven method of calming traffic.
About the Project
This capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.