Engineering Professional Programs

Course Faculty: Susan Hartnett and Mike Coleman

Traffic calming is an emerging transportation specialty to minimize the impact of high-speed and high-volume traffic on residents, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit providers and users. Traffic calming strategies concentrate on physical changes to streets and street networks, rather than relying on traditional enforcement policies and public awareness campaigns. Traffic calming is quickly evolving into an independent technology with accompanying standards and practices.

Traffic conditions on urban and suburban streets, rural roads, and highways greatly affect the livability, comfort, and safety of a community. As communities develop, traffic conditions can change in ways that can have an impact on both the quality of life and economic vitality. Safe and comfortable streets and roads are proven to enhance a community's quality of life.

This course outlines methods and procedures for identifying the need for calming projects, selecting calming solutions, developing and constructing calming projects, and predicting changes to traffic characteristics after projects are completed. In addition, the course will provide an overview of the constantly changing traffic calming field with recent examples of international and Washington State traffic calming projects. The instructors will also discuss traffic calming applications for rural roads and highways.

The instructors for this course have been directly involved with the development of the City of Portland's Traffic Calming Program. This course will look at traffic calming measures that have and have not worked in Portland and will also look at the successes and failures of traffic calming programs from other cities and countries. The course also includes a field trip to selected area traffic calming sites.

Course Topics

Planning and policy issues associated with traffic calming.

Traffic calming project identification and selection.

Design and performance of traffic calming measures including traffic circles, speed bumps, curb extensions, diverters, and pedestrian islands.

Impact of traffic calming on fire vehicle travel times.

Traffic studies that are unique to traffic calming.

Case study that integrates the course material presented.

Who Should Attend

This course is oriented toward transportation planners, engineers, and technicians including federal, state, local agency and private sector personnel. The course has also been well-received by community leaders and fire and police officials.

Continuing Education Units and Professional Development Hours

Course participants will earn 2.1 CEUs/21 PDHs upon successful completion of this course. The CEU is a nationally recognized measure of participation in a noncredit continuing education program that meets established criteria for increasing knowledge and competency.