University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Nebraska Department of Transportation Research Reports Nebraska LTAP 6-2020 Research on School Zone Safety Aemal Khattak University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Yashu Kang University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ndor Part of the Transportation Engineering Commons Khattak, Aemal and Kang, Yashu, "Research on School Zone Safety" (2020). Nebraska Department of Transportation Research Reports. 254. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ndor/254 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Nebraska LTAP at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Department of Transportation Research Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Final Report Report SPR-P1(19) M092 26-1121-0033-001 Research on School Zone Safety Aemal Khattak Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln Yashu Kang Ph. D. Candidate 2020 Nebraska Transportation Center 262 Prem S. Paul Research Center at Whittier School 2200 Vine Street Lincoln, NE 68583-0851 (402) 472-1993 “This report was funded in part through grant[s] from the Federal Highway Administration [and Federal Transit Administration], U.S. Department of Transportation. The views and opinions of the authors [or agency] expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Department of Transportation.” Research on School Zone Safety Dr. Aemal Khattak Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln Yashu Kang Ph.D. Candidate Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln A Report on Research Sponsored By Nebraska Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and Nebraska Transportation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln June 2020 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. M092 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Research on School Zone Safety June 2020 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Dr. Aemal Khattak Yashu Kang, Ph. D. Candidate 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. UNL Nebraska Transportation Center 2200 Vine St. 11. Contract or Grant No. PO Box 830851 SPR-PI (19) M092 Lincoln, NE 68583-0851 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Nebraska Department of Transportation 1500 Nebraska 2 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Lincoln, NE 68502 15. Supplementary Notes Conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. 16. Abstract This research investigated different aspects of school zone safety including the effects of speed differentials on drivers’ speeds in active school zones, the effects of school and surrounding characteristics on drivers’ speeds in active school zones, and the safety benefits and costs associated with active school zones. The research team identified 18 schools in Nebraska for data collection that consisted of drivers’ speed data, school and surrounding characteristics, and 2014-2018 reported crash data. The 18 schools were categorized by the school zone speed limit differentials: 35 to 25 mph, 40 to 25 mph, 30 to 25 mph, and 35 to 15 mph. The collected motor vehicle related data included vehicle classification, vehicle speed and time of observation. In aggregate, 378,506 vehicles were observed at the study sites. Motor vehicle speed data analysis showed that drivers at 17 of the 18 schools slowed significantly in response to active school zones. However, their non-compliance with the lowered speed limit of the active school zone increased with greater speed limit differentials. An estimated linear regression model on drivers’ speeds indicated that key contributing factors affecting drivers’ speeds were speed limit differentials, status of school zones (passive/active), vehicle classification (small, medium, large), time of day (AM/PM), presence of on-street parking and presence of traffic signals. On average drivers travelled 6.23 mph faster in passive school zones compared to when the school zones were active. Analysis of 5-year crashes showed that crash rates were higher in active school zones compared to their passive status and that this increase was consistent across motor vehicle only crashes and motor vehicle and non- motorist involved crashes. Using the Federal Highway Administration crash costs, crash severity analysis revealed that on average a crash during active school zone period cost $53,984 less than a crash during the passive school zone period. Research recommendations include the following. • Transportation agencies should establish school zones with great caution as higher crash rates exist in active school zones. • Transportation agencies can expect active school zones to mitigate crash severity and thereby provide safety benefits from reduced crash costs. • Transportation agencies should exercise caution in setting speed limits for passive and active school zone periods. Due to drivers’ relatively high levels of non-compliance, speed limit differences of 15 mph should be rarely used and greater than 15 mph differences avoided. The conclusions and recommendations in this report are based on past data when travel patterns were relatively stable. The situation with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may change travel patterns especially around schools and consequently travel safety will change, depending on the arrangements adopted by school districts. A comparative study of schools with and without established school zones is recommended for the future. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement School zone, driver speed, crash, safety No restrictions. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified page) Unclassified 67 ii Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... v Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 9 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Objectives ................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Outline ........................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Speed Analysis in School Zones ................................................................................. 12 2.2 Safety Effectiveness Studies of School Zone Establishment ...................................... 16 Chapter 3 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Driver Speed Data at School Zones ............................................................................ 18 3.2 Crash History Data at Study Sites ............................................................................... 23 Chapter 4 Speed and Crash Analysis .......................................................................................................... 27 4.1 Driver Speed Analysis at School Zones ...................................................................... 27 4.2 Crash Analysis and Safety Benefits of School Zones ................................................. 35 4.3 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................................... 44 5.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 44 5.2 Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 46 5.3 Study Limitations and Future Expectations ................................................................ 46 References ................................................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................. 51 iii List of Tables Table 3.1 School Zone Characteristics ........................................................................................