Development of usage guidelines for speed display units in school zones

dc.contributor.advisorHildebrand, Eric
dc.contributor.authorHazzard, Kaitlin
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-01T16:38:10Z
dc.date.available2023-03-01T16:38:10Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.updated2020-06-11T00:00:00Z
dc.description.abstractRoad authorities are under increasing pressure from parents and the public to install speed display signs in school zones as a perceived means to improve safety for students. While isolated studies have shown that many of these supplemental countermeasures yield quantifiable changes in driver behaviour, little empirical evidence exists regarding collision experience within designated school zones to quantify whether a problem actually exists. This research analyzed collision history data for delineated school zones/areas from a sample of urban and rural locations in New Brunswick with the goal of developing usage guidelines for speed displays that can assist municipalities to make an objective decision regarding the implementation of this countermeasure. Results from the collision analysis showed that only 21% of urban and 29% of rural schools are performing statistically worse than the group as a whole. Comparison of yearly collisions found only 2% of schools experienced statistically more collisions than a comparable road without a school. Results indicate that schools in both urban and rural locations are performing better than expected. A collision prediction model was developed using a Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial regression that relates collision data to explanatory school zone/area characteristics. Variables found to have the most significant effect on collisions within school zones/areas include road volume, presence of a signalized intersection, number of unsignalized intersections present, and number of through lanes. The resulting model subsequently provides a warrant system designed to evaluate whether a specific school site would justify the installation of a speed display unit that is based on contributing variables to school zone collisions.
dc.description.copyright© Kaitlin E. Hazzard, 2016
dc.description.notePages are numbered by chapter. e.g. Third page of second chapter is paginated as 2.3
dc.description.noteM.Sc.E. University of New Brunswick, Department of Civil Engineering, 2016.
dc.formattext/xml
dc.format.extentviii, 124 pages
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.identifier.oclc#1157344682
dc.identifier.otherThesis 9759
dc.identifier.urihttps://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/handle/1882/14245
dc.language.isoen_CA
dc.publisherUniversity of New Brunswick
dc.rightshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.subject.disciplineCivil Engineering
dc.subject.lcshTraffic safety and children.
dc.subject.lcshSpeed limits -- Technological innovations.
dc.subject.lcshRadar in speed limit enforcement -- New Brunswick.
dc.titleDevelopment of usage guidelines for speed display units in school zones
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineCivil Engineering
thesis.degree.fullnameMaster of Science in Engineering
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of New Brunswick
thesis.degree.levelmasters
thesis.degree.nameM.Sc.E.

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