Built environment characteristics and driving speed in 30 km/h zones: a Dutch national analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/dlam1892Keywords:
30 km/h zone, driving speed, road safety, Safety Performance Indicators, traffic calmingAbstract
Road authorities are systematically expanding 30 km/h zones to enhance safety. This requires understanding how built environment characteristics are associated with driving speeds, but only a few studies, typically based on small samples, focus on 30 km/h streets. Using a spatial error model, this study examines the relationship between built environment factors and 85th percentile speeds on 47,000 km of Dutch 30 km/h streets (N=159.000). Driving speed and traffic volume data were estimated using floating car data, while built environment characteristics were collected from public sources.
The results show that higher driving speeds are associated with greater traffic volumes, longer street lengths, closed pavement, separated bicycle tracks, visually marked bicycle lanes, and longer road sections. Features linked to lower driving speeds include curves, speed humps, raised intersections, exit constructions at zone entrances, narrower carriageways, roadside parking, nearby premises, and higher address densities.
Furthermore, the identified interaction effects show that measures like speed humps and raised intersections have greater impacts in high-speed environments (i.e. long and busy streets with closed pavement) but limited effects in low-speed settings. These findings emphasize the need to consider combinations of road design elements and their context-dependent effects to understand driving speed on 30 km/h streets. Out study provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of speed-reduction measures, offering guidance for interventions targeting streets with excessive speeds.
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Author Biographies
Paul Schepers, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Netherlands
Paul Schepers is a senior road safety consultant and researcher at Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch national road authority) specialised in road safety of vulnerable road users and the use of and data for Safety Performance Indicators for road safety policy. He earned his PhD in road safety from Delft University of Technology in 2013 for the thesis ‘A safer road environment for cyclists’.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.
Werner van Loo, National Road Traffic Data Portal, the Netherlands
Werner van Loo is a senior traffic consultant and data scientist at the National Road Traffic Data Portal. He is specialised in Floating Car Data, Geographic Information Systems and road safety data. He also has over a decade of experience as a traffic engineer for municipalities.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Validation.
Wouter Mieras, Sweco, the Netherlands
Wouter Mieras is a mathematician and data scientist. As a senior mobility consultant at Sweco, he conducts evaluation studies in areas such as traffic safety and works with traffic models. He is specialized in devising methodologies, conducting sharp and applicable analyses, performing complex and large-scale data manipulations, and visualizing information.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Methodology.
Hans Drolenga, Sweco, the Netherlands
Hans Drolenga works at Sweco as a project manager and consultant on research and evaluation projects in the field of road safety. His passion lies in extracting valuable information from large and complex datasets in the mobility field and using these insights to provide clear and actionable recommendations. With nearly 20 years of experience, he is well-versed in conducting research and reporting at a scientific level.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization.
Dick de Waard, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Dick de Waard is a professor in Traffic Psychology and the retention of Mobility at the University of Groningen. He is specialised in human behaviour in surface transportation and aviation. He is experienced in the study of dual task performance, effects of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems, the detection of impaired driving, and human error.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization.
Marco Helbich, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Marco Helbich is an associate professor in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University. His research deals with health geography and how the built and natural environments affect human behaviour. His research interests focus on computational techniques and spatiotemporal analytics to address human-environment relations in cities.
CRediT contribution: Methodology, Writing—review & editing.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Paul Schepers, Werner van Loo, Wouter Mieras, Hans Drolenga, Dick de Waard, Marco Helbich
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