QRSTUV: Guide to Speed Management

Video transcript

In this module we will undertake a demonstration of the speed limit review technical tool following the speed limit review process described in section three of MUTCD part four.

The demonstration will follow one of the case studies outlined in appendix E of MUTCD part four.

The first sheet is the site input sheet, the user is to fill out all details in the yellow cells, as they relate to the homogenous, speed zone that is being reviewed.

Importantly, the latitude and longitude of the start and end of the speed zones are important to help identify the location of the start and end points of the speed zones being reviewed.

I have now provided all details for our demonstration site. It's important to note, that in our demonstration whilst all details will be real and factual, the purpose of this is for a demonstration only.

The next sheet is the criteria based speed limits sheet. Criteria based speed limits are described in section four of MUTCD part four. On this sheet we have the criteria based speed limits flowchart which is depicted in figure four point one of MUTCD part four. This sheet also contains the clear all and the instructions button.

Once the instruction button is pressed a pop up window opens, which depicts and describes what criteria based speed limits are, and also details the instructions for how to use this sheet.

In using this sheet, the user starts at step one and answers a series of yes or no questions to determine if any criteria based speed limits apply.

Multiple steps throughout this flowchart the user can click on the step for greater definition of the step.

[Pause] Step one is the speed zone a foreshore? For our demonstration site, the speed zone is not a foreshore, so we would click no.

You can see in selecting no [pause] step eight has been greyed out and is no longer applicable to our speed zone.

If, we were undertaking a speed limit review on a foreshore, we would click yes, and we can see here that the criteria based speed limit [pause] outcome is depicted in this cell here.

For our demonstration purposes, our site is not on a foreshore, so we would select no and move to step two.

Is the road considered a car park or access driveway?

[Pause] At any stage we can click clear all button to reset this sheet. At no stage can you click ahead and select a step if you have not completed the steps that lead into that.

I have now completed the criteria based speed limits flow chart for our demonstration site.

In the outcome you can see the criteria based speed limits do not apply, and we would move in to stages three and four of the speed limit review process.

The risk assess speed limit sheet, follows stage three of the speed limit review process which is described in section five point one of MUTCD part four.

[Pause] In the top left had corner of this sheet we have the road classification inputs, beneath that we have the crash risk rating inputs. In the middle of the sheet, we have the infrastructure risk rating inputs and on the right hand side we have our outputs, including calculations of the crash risk rating, calculation of the infrastructure risk rating, the overall road risk metric, and the risk assessed speed limit.

On the bottom right hand side we also have room for additional comments if required.

In the middle of this sheet we have an instructions button, (inaudible 3:48) estimate risk assessed speed limit button, and a clear all button.

This sheet comprises drop [sic] down menus and also cells that require inputs.

[Pause] This sheet also comprises [pause] buttons that launch pop ups, to assist the user with the inputs.

I have now provided all inputs for our demonstration site including the classification, the crashes, and type, and the infrastructure risk rating inputs.

Now, we click the estimate risk assessed speed limit button [pause] and the calculations and outputs that's depicted [sic] on the right hand side of the screen. You can see here that our demonstration site has a risk assessed speed limit of 80 kilometres an hour.

Next is the speed data speed limit stage which is stage four of the speed limit review process and described in section five point two of MUTCD part four.

On the speed data speed limit sheet we have our speed metric inputs we also have three buttons the clear all, the estimate speed data speed limit, and the instructions button.

Below that we have our outputs, and room for any additional comments if required.

[Long pause] Prior to completing this sheet, speed data must've been [sic] collected and processed as described in MUTCD part four. I have now input [sic] the speed metrics for our demonstration site, and we'll click the estimate speed data speed limit button.

[Pause] You can see that the speed data speed limit had been estimated at 90 kilometres an hour.

Next is the options selection sheet.

[Pause] Option selection is stage five of the speed limit review process and described in section six of MUTCD part four.

In the option selection sheet, we have three buttons a clear all, the undertake option selection, and instructions buttons.

We have our inputs to the option selection process, and the option selection flowchart.

There is no need to provide any inputs into this sheet simply click the undertake option selection button and all results from the previous steps will be populated and the flow chart complete.

The last sheet of the speed limit review technical tool is the engineer recommendation sheet.

[Pause] The engineer recommendation sheet follows stage six of the speed limit review process which is described in section seven of MUTCD part four.

The engineer recommendation sheet comprises three [sic] buttons, clear all, summarise findings of speed limit review technical assessments, and the instructions button.

Beneath that is a summary of all technical assessments.

[Pause] Underneath the summary, is the engineer's recommendations including the engineer's name, RPEQ number, and the date of which the speed limit review was completed.

Also, is a question [sic] to the engineer whether they accept the outcomes of the technical process or any alternate recommendations or other circumstances that they are recommending, and a justification as to why these recommendations [sic].

Beneath that, is the responsible’s [sic] officer's acceptance of the outcomes from the engineer.

The responsible officer is to input their name, position, and the date of acceptance, as well as answering the question, indicating do they accept the engineer's recommendations.

[Long pause] If I click the summarise findings of the speed limit review technical assessments, we can see here we have a pop up window, reminding the engineer to double check all outcomes of the speed limit review process in the technical tool ensuring that they align with the process described in MUTCD part four.

This speed limit review technical tool is an aid to assist engineers and all accuracy [inaudible] is the responsibility of the engineer.

That completes this module, in the demonstration of the speed limit review technical tool.

Video transcript

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners, emerging, past and present, whose land that we meet on today. I would also extend that respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today.
So first module will be looking is the Introduction to road safety and speed management.
What we're trying to get out of the module is look at our current state, Queensland Road Safety document MAP overview, The safe systems approach, safe speed overview, speed limit review process and an introduction to the speed management activities.
These should hopefully help with the module learning outcomes shown here on the page.
Mainly looking at Road safety challenges understanding those in QLD. Mainly the various documents that we have in Queensland related to safety, making sure you understand the four pillars of the save system, understand how speed plays role in this, and be able to identify the speed limit review setting process and speed managed activities.
This is quick overview of Queensland, so with our over 5,000,000 population we do have quite an extensive network of state and local roads, quite old fleet age at 10.4 years and quite a lot of vulnerable road users present.
When we look at crashes, the main crash 1/4 of all crashes on Queensland, roads are in those younger 17 to 24, which make up over 2,000 hospitalisations each year, with Queensland now having over 8,000 fatal and hospitalisation crashes a year.
When we look at the journey so far in road safety since the 70s and the 60s where we used to have 30 fatalities per 100,000 population, we've gone down to around 5. 
We got down to 2009-2019 our lowest. Unfortunately, since 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 has seen an increase, but we've listed here a few of the key attributes that we've undertaken in Queensland that have really stepped those down.
On the 30th of November 2022 we released this Queensland Road Safety document map. This is in all of our Queensland Road Safety documents in the Queensland Guide to Road Safety and also in the Queensland Road Safety Technical User Volumes.
This is a quick overview snapshot of all the strategic principles, operations and device documents that exist, and it shows you how all these documents are interrelated. I'll go through this and go through what each of these documents means and is. 
That a quick snapshot is we do have the TORUM Act, the Traffic Operations Road User Manual Act, which really has the legislative responsibilities, and gives you the legislative power. Those through the Queensland documents, MUTCD and the Queensland Guide to Road Safety give power to the documents, Australian standards and Austroads Guide to Road Safety that we have harmonised.
Because of the harmonisation and we have gone and tried to harmonise as much as we can, it has meant that those sections that aren't in the Austroads or Australian Standards, that don't fit neatly into the Queensland Guide to Road Safety or MUTCD, in our case Part 4, are located in the Queensland Roads Technical User Volumes.
In this case, main document we're talking about is a new process. The Guide to Speed Management.
It also shows the linkages at the Queensland and national level of this road safety strategy and action plans and also where the TMR Road Safety Policy sits, which is currently only mandatory for state-controlled roads.
Up in this top right corner, you'll see the strategic principles, operations and devices. So in the top corner, we just sort of indicate as we go through what the each level is.
This one is strategic. So the National road safety strategy. Probably the key takeaways from this are that there are two targets and Queensland is committed to alignment with the road safe system and looking at movement and place. 
The targets of note are that by 2030, fatalities are to be reduced by 50% and hospital hospitalisation/serious injuries by 30%.
This is part of our journey to get to the long term goal of the 0 fatalities by 2050 and 0 serious injuries by 2050.
The National Road Safety Action Plan does include nine priority projects. As you can see here, are priorities as you can see here that we are targeting in our safety throughout Australia to improve.
Key ones probably about speed, infrastructure planning, investment and vulnerable road users. But all of these speed plays a role in.
The Queensland Road Safety Strategy, which was released last year. Includes the same targets of 50% reductions for FATALS and 30% reductions by hospitalisations. But due to us releasing our report one year later, our target is by 2031. 
We do also align with the vision of Queensland Government, vision of 0 deaths and serious injuries by 2050.
Queensland Road Safety Action Plan has highlighted the alignment with the movement of place, as well as looking at health and behaviour, and I've highlighted one of the 20 actions that are to be undertaken over the next three years, which is that of action for. 
Which is, the review of the speed limit hierarchy across Queensland with a view to reducing fatal and serious injury crashes through lower speed. This includes targeted speed reductions in areas where there are high numbers of vulnerable road users improving the balance between movement and place.
While Queensland is still developing our movement and place policy guiding documents, it is something that has been adopted across Australia and other jurisdictions and Queensland is committed to aligning with.
Looking at practises the Austroads guide to road safety was released in 2021 for all parts, bar 6, which was released in 2022. 
With the release of these documents, Queensland had committed to harmonising with all these Austroads technical documents and so last year undertook the project of creating these seven new documents, which give the legislative power to the Austroads documents.
So in a nutshell, we've accepted that the Austroads documents are to be followed so the Queensland documents were created to give the power to those Austroads documents through the TORUM Act.
Part three is the Queensland Guide to Road Safety and Austroads Guide to Road Safety, which is Safe Speeds.
That's a document which then has led to the speed limit setting process.
As you can see here, the Queensland Guide Road Safety is the one that gives power to Austroads Guide to Road Safety Part 3 Safe Speeds.
It's got chapters about speed and harm, speed, behaviour and roads. The case of safe to speeds, way to manage speeds, types of speed limits, and how do you choose speed limits.
That 'how do you choose speed limits'? Chapter 7 is what has indicated that all jurisdictions are to create their own guidance which Queensland has in the Queensland Road Safety Technical User Volumes, which I'll shorten to QRSTUV, Guides to Speed Management.
The other document shown here and on the road map was Queensland Road Safety Policy.
The Road Safety Policy covers a few topics, but one section is Appendix A which covers off a number of safe system safety standards that have been adopted by TMR to be implemented.
One of those specifically calls out speed, being the second one vulnerable road users, which is in all urban environments and where demand exists or may develop in a rural environment. 
Ensure appropriate speed limit provisions for people who walk right and use a mobility device or live with disability are provided.
Over in device, the MUTCD (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices) has been around for a number of years which gives power to the Australian standards.
Historically, the speed limits setting process used to exist in MUTCD Part 4 speed controls.
With the harmonisation of the documents, what is covered by AS1742.4 in 2020 is primarily the traffic control devices, the signs, the lines type information. 
It doesn't include the actual setting of speed limit process.
Due to this it was requirement that with harmonisation to remove all components that weren't relevant to AS1742 or were attributed table to the device's component. That a new document was required. 
I do note, that this document still has to be read in conjunction with when undertaking a speed limit review and looking at speed as a consideration, as this is how you select the appropriate signage.
The QRSTUV documents are really the practitioner's guides. These are probably the documents you, as people who want to consider what's happening with speeds and safety in Queensland, will pick up.
Currently last year we released two of these QRSTUV documents, the Guide to Schools, which historically had been the TRUM Volume 2 Part 3 that used to cover school zones, school crossings, and information
around schools. The other document, which will be focusing on today, is a QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management, which as mentioned historically was MUTCD Part 4 sections that didn't relate to devices.
Moving forward in the coming years, we look to enhance this suite of documents to incat and entail, probably 6-7 or more guides that will help practitioners in areas to do with safe system, assessments, improvements with our road safety audit guidance, crash investigation guidance, network safety plans, treatment of crash locations and any other guidance that arises related to road safety. 
So QRSTUV will be very useful documents.
As mentioned, Queensland and Australia have adopted the SAFE system framework.
This framework has core principles that people make mistakes that can lead to road crashes. The human body has limited physical build to tolerate crash forces before harm occurs.
And a shared responsibility exists among those who plan, design, build, manage and use roads and vehicles, and those who provide post crash care to prevent crashes resulting in serious injuries and deaths.
The last principle is that all parts of the system must be strengthened to multiply their effects. That if one part fails, road users are still protected.
With those four key pillars safe speeds, safe vehicles, safe road users and save roads and road sides, which are complemented by the fifth one, post crash care.
The principles indicate, we need to make sure we are addressing and looking at all four all the time otherwise, one by themselves will often fail.
What has changed under the safe system? A lot, really.
We don't just look at crashes anymore. We're now focused on fatalities and serious injuries.
We don't only look at the cores being mainly the poor road user behaviour or performance or speeding or drink driving. We are not trying to blame the user. We want to look at the system and make sure we address system values.
In terms of the responsibility, instead of it being an individual user responsible for
their own safety, the emphasis now is that it is the system designers and operators and the whole system that are responsible and should be looking out for the safety of everyone.
In terms of planning approach, instead of incremental approaches to reducing the problem with an associated residual crash problem, there is a need for a systematic approach to build a safe road system and minimise harm.
With our vision of 2050 we can't do a little bit here, a little bit there targeting where crashes are happening, we need that new approach, often led by network safety plans, of a whole systematic approach.
In terms of the goals in terms of it being historically been an optimum number of fatalities and serious injuries based on competing objectives.
Queensland and Australia are committed to elimination of deaths and serious injuries on our road network.
In terms of trade-offs, it shouldn't be a balance between mobility and safety. It should be maximising safe mobility.
And in terms of the effort needed. It should be, instead of incremental gains by individuals in each of these four separate pillars, it should be an optimised solution across all the pillars.
The safe system has been around for a while. There has been training for a number of years, it has been adopted throughout Queensland and Australia, and there is training available if people need further information.
Terms of the culture manifestations. Historically, legal liability avoidance, some risk aversion was the main manifestation of safety. Where as now, it should be risk assessments, innovation, trials and demonstrations.
And in terms of tools available, there was a bias towards our reactive pre-existing crash history to determine where to treat, whereas now the emphasis is looking at the whole network in a proactive methodology to optimise the network for all.
Next will look at safe speed overview.
When we look at why speed as a pillar and speed is such an important thing, we're going to look at the effects of small changes in travel speed and to the outcome that it might lead to. So a small change in travel speed, as a proportionately larger change in the stopping distance.
And with that, it's a much larger change in the likely impact speed that's going to occur at the point of impact, assuming you have begun breaking. And in terms of the energy it's because of the squaring effect, it's a even larger effect, so therefore even to those small, incremental changes mean that that point of impact is going to cause a likely higher death or serious injury probability outcome.
This graph, quickly shows the speed to travel distance. As you can see with those low speed, the distance travelled can be quite short in terms of you see something you react, you break, you can stop in time.
Whereas if you're travelling at those higher speeds, you see something, you react and break and come to a stop.
If that point of impact was an object 100 metres away. If you're travelling at below 70 kilometres per hour, you can stop in time. Whereas if you were travelling at 80 kilometres per hour, just that 10 kilometres difference, the impact speed would be close to 40 kilometres per hour, which for someone such as a pedestrian, is a higher than 10% chance of a death or serious injury.
Here is just a quick example of what happens to a vehicle at those different speeds.
And here's another graph just showing how those small changes in speed can lead to quite large increases in the severity, outcome and probability, and the chance of the crash occurring.
In terms of the safe system, there are a number of curves that have been developed over the years. Some include failing serious injuries. This one is showing just the probability of fatalities. The sample numbers to consider are the 30 50 70 rule.
If you are vulnerable road user and hit at 30 kilometres per hour, you have approximately a 10% chance of deaths. That as you can see greatly increases so about 40 kilometres per hour. It's up nearly 40%.
If you are in a vehicle that is not a bicycle, or a motorbike and have a side impact crash, often usually occurring at intersections. There's a 10% chance of death at 50 kilometres per hour.
For a head on crash., or running into a pole or other usual single vehicle type crashes or rear ends. It's about 70 kilometres per hour, where the chance of death increases to 10% or greater.
Obviously, as I've mentioned, the vulnerable road users, including motorbikes, is a very low number because it doesn't take much for that very severe outcome to occur.
So what is the speed limit review?
The QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management sets out the way speed limits are determined and set on Queensland roads. The setting speed limits are a number of factors are to be considered.
So the speed limit setting process involves the review of crash history data. Inclusion of traffic volume and prevailing speed data. Knowing what the road function is.
Knowing the road characteristics that or the construction standard, and knowing what the abutting land uses and development is.
The process is referred to as the speed limit review. This speed limit review and the guidance on the guide to speed management also covers off speed management because speed management is a key component and part of this safe system and management of safer speeds.
So the benefits of speed management activities are the reduction in casualty crashes, the reduction in severity of crashes, increase the credibility of speed limits and lead to the voluntary compliance with speed limits.
Speed management capabilities are usually looked at under the three E's of 'engineering', 'enforcement' and 'education', which all play a role in different situations.
Looking at engineering the main, number of different treatments that may be employed to manage speed through speed management activities are signs, being static signs that might have supplementary plates to give more information so users are aware of why the speeds in place.
Township entry treatments to treatment that's being deployed in Queensland since approximately 2016 that provide users entering townships the clear reason and clear caution as to why the speed has dropped it at that location from a high speed to this lower speed as you enter this built up urban environment.
Vertical deflection devices are another engineering treatment which provide that user to slow down or are inconvenienced if they don't slow down to help manage the speeds through urban areas predominantly, but can be employed in both urban and rural.
Similar horizontal deflection devices are speed management activity that are often done in urban areas to manage speeds.
Other engineering treatments are feedback signs that provide users with clear warnings as to what this of this risk and to give you that feedback to emphasise what your behaviour is; if it's good, green or bad red.
Other treatments deployed are variable speed limit signs. Most common probably are those the speed limit signs around schools.
Schools zone signs with either static or flashing lights.
But you do have variable speed zones, such as had tours in some built up areas like the valley, and there are many other variables speed limit signs applicable.
There are also a perceptual countermeasures that can be deployed that can help in speed management activities.
Education; There are a number of different speed managed activities that can be applied. There is a document called 'Let's change the way we look at speed' document that was produced number of years ago that may help you to understand this abit further.
But there are a number of these speed management activities are media statements or targeted social media posts, press releases, or advertisement that may help in educating the public as to why road safety improvements are needed, but specifically why speed limits are being changed.
Here is an education piece that was released a number of years ago, which was targeted at speed. (Video ad plays).
A number of other educational speed measure activities are letterbox drops or fact sheets or variable message signs or rubbish bin stickers.
In terms of enforcement? There are a number of different speed mentoring activities that may be necessary to help in managing speed. Cameras and radars are probably the more commonly thought about ones, and police presence. 
There are also road behaviour monitoring systems that may be deployed to help manage, as the top right picture shows - there may be infrastructure necessary to be implemented to help in the supporting of cameras or radars or other activities as part of this enforcement, so it's not always just a lever to the QPS lever, to the police to manage, it's one that has to be thought through.
So that concludes the first module. Hopefully this is giving you an understanding of the road safety challenges in QLD.
And an understanding the various documents that exist in QLD related to Road safety and policy and technical advice. A brief understanding the safe system approach and the pillars.
An awareness of the impact of speed on the road safety outcomes. Being able to identify the speed and review process and understanding the speed management activities including the different categories.
The next module is an overview of the setting of the speed limits in QLD.
So we'll go through, the key documents related to speed limits in Queensland. Speed limits in QLD. Fundamentals to the speed limit review setting process and stage of the speed limit review setting process.
As I noted earlier, these all were released on the 30th of November 2022. Again, most of the speed limit review setting process follows what was undertaken since the guidance updates. The MUTCD Part 4 in 2018, but there are changes that have happened throughout the documents that you should be aware of.
The module learning outcomes should look at the legislative and operational documents and inform the speed limit setting process in Queensland.
Understand the principles supporting the termination and speed limits in Queensland.
Understanding the roles and responsibilities involved in speed and review process, and understanding the nine stages of the speed limit review process.
For those who aren't able to make it here today, and that you're aware of, especially those on speed limit reviews, are speed management committees, or responsible officers. This is probably a module quite useful to share with those, so they are aware of their responsibilities and the speed limit review setting process.
A quick snapshot coming back after I've already sort of gone through this earlier. Just to overview again, seeing how everything connects, that the TORUM Act at the highest level gives a legislative power. To the Queensland documents, which through those call out the harmonisation of the Australian standards and Austroads documents.
And where guidance hasn't been provided in other documents they get called out through the Queensland documents, MUTCD or Queensland Guide to Road Safety, the QRSTUV documents exist for operational user guidance.
So you should be familiar with these TORUM documents, the regulations and the act. These give the legislative power behind what happens on roads.
Two key sections are sections 72A. Which is that, an official traffic sign must be installed in a way specified by the MUTCD. In this case speed limit setting. It's usually the MUTCD Part 4.
Section 166(2), has the approved design method standard or procedure must be contained in the MUTCD or an approved notice. So in this case Queensland Guide to Road Safety is the approved notice that calls out the QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management as the methods and design and standards and procedures for undertaking speed limit review that then has the signs related to 72A.
The regulations provide the speed limits for certain vehicles because it it's not related to the speed limit  setting process, but it is also useful to be aware of.
The other key documents of the speed limit setting are, as I've mentioned, the QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management and the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Part 4 Speed Controls.
These two documents now really need to be read in conjunction due to the harmonisation.
It would have been nice to be able to keep them as one document, but as stand-alone documents, they work quite well. So when you go from the speed limit review setting processes, then you go and consider the speed signs, it is the logical process.
The QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management describes the process for the determination setting appropriate speeds in Queensland. They include the guidance for setting speed limits on existing roads, on new roads, and something that has moved and changed it does include the setting of speed limits in school zones.
It is noted that school zones are a speed zone and therefore there is no requirement that you undertake a speed limit review in setting a school zone.
QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management does not provide guidance for advisory speed signing, temporary speed limit zoning for roadworks, speed limit zoning for tram ways, 110 km/h speed limits on a declared motorway, speed control in local area traffic management areas that's covered by other guidance and traffic control devices.
MUTCD Part 4 describes requirements and recommendations for the implementation of speed controlled devices.
This document is now harmonised with the AS 1742.4 2020.
This document does have to be read in conjunction with a AS 1742.4 to be able to fully understand.
The purpose of speed management is the involvement speed related factors in serious crashes IS well established. So speed limits play an important role in managing road safety and speed management is a key factor in the safety and efficiency of the road network.
So it's more, much more than just the legal speed limits in science. It is about meeting an expected compromise across a wide range of objectives and a diverse group of road users.
Safety and travel efficient tree contribute to a healthy and prosperous society.
And looking at the overarching principles of speed limits and speed zones, there are a number that have been listed in the QRSTUV Guide to Speed management, which are speed limits should be set at the lowest applicable speed, taking into consideration the safe system unless justification for higher speed limit is provided.
Speed limit should be capable of being enforced.
Speed limits should not be applied specifically for the purpose of compensated for isolated geometric deficiencies. It is noted an intersection is not a geometric deficiency. A geometric deficiency is usually something like a narrow bridge or a sharp curve or something like that.
All sign posted speed limits shall be in multiples of 10, with the exception of this being on footpaths or shared paths where 25 km/hour speed limit sign may be installed when warranted and the lowest limit that can be applied in Queensland is 10 kilometres per hour and the maximum speed limit that can be applied is 110 kilometres per hour.
So they are the five guiding principles of setting speed limits in QLD.
For those wondering, 12 km/hr speeds do exist on footpaths for E-mobility scooters.
E-immobility, devices like electric scooters, but it is noted that those are not to be signed. That it's a default.
So now default, the defaults speed limits in built up areas in Queensland is 50 kilometres per hour. In non built up areas is 100 kilometres per hour.
And on footpaths or shared paths or personal mobility devices, is 12 kilometres per hour. In all these cases, a default to be limited, a speed limit sign is not required.
It is, though, noted, and this is a big, big, flashy stars and everything. A default speed limit is not an appropriate process for selecting a speed limit. It is a method for applying a determined speed limit.
So it's more you've determined through a speed limit review the speed limit is 100 or 50 or 12?
You may then not need to sign it. It's not a process to say the default speed in Urban is 50, so therefore I'll assume it's 50 unless the speed limit review otherwise tells me.
Terms of types of speed limit zones.
We have linear speed zones, which are probably the more common ones currently in Queensland. These are homogeneous discrete sections of roads that are considered separately based on function, prevailing traffic speeds and speed environment.
The other type of speed zones are area speed zones. In area Speed Zone consists of characteristics of roads that are considered together based on a uniform road function and speed environment, so they are uniform areas. Then encompasses all the roads in an area unless signed otherwise, and comprises roads of more than one road, and comprises of more than one road function.
So there can be non uniform areas.
So there is guidance on both uniform areas and non uniform areas due to if a Council or a district or an area want a non uniform area and apply a area wide speed limit, there is guidance on that.
In terms of who considers speed limit, there is one type of person who consider speed limit and that is an RPEQ.
So speed limit setting is a professional engineering activity under the Professional Engineering's Act of 2022.
And an engineer who is responsible for undertaking a speed limit review must be an RPEQ.
So that's a fairly nice clear, simple roles/responsibility. If you're doing a speed limit review, undertaking the process of doing a speed limit review, you must be an RPEQ.
Or under the direct supervision of an RPEQ.
In terms of the fundamentals of the speed limit review process, there are 9 stages in the speed limit review process. We'll go through what these are in a bit of detail, but in a quick note overview.
The first step is always identifying the need for speed limit review.
And I will be answering mostly yes's here and but that second one will be no. If there is a need for one.
The first step is determined for criteria based speed limit, is applicable at that location.
In the case where that's not the case, you undertake what most people would probably see as the older school general knowledge speed limit review, where there is a need to determine the risk assessed speed limit, collecting the crash data road function, infrastructure risk rating information. So road characteristics to determine the risk assessed limit speed.
Also, running parallel to determine the speed data spelling review, what does the actual operation or the road indicate that speed should be?
Next is the assessed speed considerations. So looking at these two, what is the speed that should be selected, or looking at this information, what is a speed limit that should be selected?
A new step has been added to the process being, other considerations. This step used to be hidden away and enduring recommendations and often miss, and so we've made it a lot clearer that there is a step called other considerations. So before you make your engineering recommendation, we have a number of questions. 19 we ask you to consider to make sure that the roads section or speeds zones that you've selected has doesn't have any of these characteristics or others that may be relevant in setting the speed limit.
Next step is the engineering recommendation as to what the speech should be.
Then it goes through the process of approval implementation going through the responsible officer and the Speed Management Committee, potentially the Speed Limit Review Panel, before you implement the changes. If changes are necessary and then the monitoring and evaluation going full circle back to our need to do one in the future.
So looking at the process.
One of the key things that is necessary to do is work out the homogeneity of a road to work out the speed zone.
Speed limit shall be applied only to speed zones which are considered homogeneous in terms of characteristics, movement and place functions and speed environment.
You might have two adjacent speed zones with the same speed that that's completely acceptable, but you should be assessing those sections that are homogeneous.
A change that has occurred and for those so the minimum length speed zones is a document that a table in the QRSTUV Guide to speed management.
Where development density varies along the homogeneous road section is desirable to keep the frequency of minimum speed zone speed limit changes to a minimum.
And a speed zone should therefore bridge any length of road for which a higher limit would otherwise be indicated, but where the length is shorter than otherwise indicated. So what's that saying? If you have lots of short homogeneous sections which might change in speed from 60 to 70 and 60 to 70 and 60 to 70.
It's probably more appropriate to look at: Is that lower speed of 60 the appropriate speed to bridge all of those speed zones, or is it worth relooking at your segmentation of your speed zone?
The table has identified our minimum length of speed zones, has identified the lengths for different speeds.
It is noted 100 and 110 haven't changed, and 50 below haven't changed, but the length for 60, 70 and 80 and 90 have changed with the 60 increasing due to it being a medium type speed. 70 and 80, reducing with them being medium length and 90 also slightly reducing from 2 kilometres to 1.8.
It is also noted that these more of a should requirement for these lengths. So it is up to the engineer's judgement as to if these can be lengthened or shortened in circumstances or shortened, as you can always lengthen because this is a minimum.
Why do we have a speed limit review process? Well, we want guidance for engineers on the sequence of data collection and analysis and importance of criterion determining speed limits. We also want a consistent methodology applied regardless of the road authority and the engineer.
We also want consistency on how speeds are determined across all considerations and we want a documented process for accountability, quality management and governance.
We also want to preserve the integrity and credibility of speed limits.
So looking at who's involved, I've mentioned before, but there are the four key groups involved are the engineer, the responsible officer, Speed Management Committee and the Speed limit review panel. Most steps won't involve the speed limit review panel. This group only gets called in very rare situations, but they do exist.
The engineer has responsibility for undertaking or for directly supervising others who are undertaking the technical component within the speed limit review setting process.
The engineer provides additional support to the responsible officer, Speed Management Committee or the speed limit review panel if required or when required.
So engineer it pretty simple. They do the student review and help where necessary.
Responsible officer, has the ultimate authority to approve the implementation of any recommendations from a speed limit review.
They shall ensure that the engineer is appropriately certified and adheres to the process described in the QRSTUV Guide to Speed management.
They shall ensure that their recommendations have been fully understood and considered by the speed Management Committee.
In the event they that endorsement of the recommendations by speed Management Committee cannot be obtained, the responsible officer shall refer the recommendation of the speed limit review along with feedback from the speed Managing Committee back to the engineer to consider.
A responsible officer shall ensure that any speed limit reviews and all related decisions are appropriately documented and stored for future reference.
To stay controlled roads, the district director or deputy regional director is the responsible officer.
And for local council roads, the local government's chief executive officer or their delegate is the responsible officer.
The Speed Management Committee deliberates thoroughly on all issues for in relation to the speed limit review recommendations.
And their decision to either they make a decision to either endorse or not to endorse the speed limit review recommendation. They don't recommend another different speed. They just either endorse or not endorse. They may request further information about the recommendations speed limit review and they shall request further information if it does not endorse the speed limit review recommendations.
The speed limit Review panel is responsible for providing independent review, assessment and feedback on any referred speed limit reviews.
It is noted that in the speed of management committee it is comprised of four members being, the PDO TMR representative, the customer service branch TMR representative, the local council representative and the QPS representative.
There is no other member of the Speed Management Committee. There may be observers which we'll talk about in a bit.
Looking at the 9 stages in more detail, I'll step through those. The first is the need for a speed limit review, so this is really what circumstances led to a speed limit review being considered for review. Is it that it may no longer be appropriate due to changes in traffic or land use or road safety performance?
Have they been works that have occurred overtime? That meant that a change in speed environment has occurred within a road section, so often homogeneous sections may shrink around semi urban or urban areas as development creeps further away. So you may have to consider shortening or lengthening speed zones.
As a community made a request or inquiries that have prompted a review, this is quite a common one as the existing speed, its own length being found to be less than the minimum, so there's a need to determine should it be merged with another or what's necessary to make sure we aren't changing speeds too frequently to not meet the objectives and principles of speed limit setting process.
And it might be identified as part of the monitoring and evaluation process. It's stage 9, but we'll get to that.
Road authorities are recommended to develop a forward works programme for reviewing speed zones on roads in their jurisdiction. They should demonstrate the currency of existing of the existing speed limits.
It's the 30th of November 2022 publication of the QRSTUV Guide to Speed Management has also included the identification of a desktop review, which was originally in it, but there's also been on the technical website a spreadsheet provided to help in undertaking a desktop review.
The desktop review helps to determine if a full speed limit review is required.
And a desktop review shall consider, at a minimum the root consistency, length of speed zone, traffic volumes, crash risk rating, road infrastructure element changes, and adjacent speed limits.
It's hopefully a useful tool to identify and run through to determine if there is need for a full speed limit review, and it can be useful document to respond to queries as to the reason why I feel a speed limit review hasn't been undertaken due to often no changes in the fellow other characteristics mentioned.
Stage two is a criteria based assessment, this is made-up of eight criteria.
The first seven have been around for a while. The eighth is the additional one off for parts or shared path speed zones.
So if you're road falls into one of these categories, the criteria based speed limit approach is undertaken to set the speed rather than progressing to stages 3-4 and five.
Selection of the criteria base may appear to be a prescription process, however, application manager in judgement is expected when determining whether a criteria based speed limit is appropriate.
Stage three is the determination of the risk assessed speed limit or RASL. The RASL is a speed limit determined through consideration of the combination of the crash risk, infrastructure risk, environmental context and road functional class.
It can be done in concurrently with stage four. Further guidance is provided in 5.1 as to the process to be undertaken that this outlines quickly the steps involved.
Which is firstly obtaining other relevant information and crash data for this site.
Step 2 is determining the crash risk rating.
Step three is determined infrastructure at risk rating. Both of these will give you a score of low, medium or high.
From that low, medium or high, a table gives you road risk metric.
And looking at that road risk metric for the relevant environmental context and functional classification class of road, it will identify what the identified RASL speed should be.
It is noted that you should take into consideration in the RASL the movement place function of that road.
And the tables provided in Section 5 are able to be looked at as to if you believe entering judgement should increase or decrease the speeds in those tables.
Stage four is determination of the speed data speed limit or the SDSL.
This stage looks at requires a determination of the speed data speed limit, which is what is the actual speed data of vehicles currently on that road section.
Its representative of the general perception of a reasonable travel speed on a particular section of Rd. So as you can see there, once you collect and analyse the speed data, you look at delta speed data correlate with the speed limit.
Or if not, determine the speed database on the speed limit data.
So what that means is we have tables in stage five which identified that for a road with an existing speed limit, what is an appropriate range of speeds of vehicles are travelling at being their mean speed and upper 15 kilometre pace?
As well as a range percentage of vehicles travelling at their pace, and if that aligns with the that the values in the table, you can adopt the speed limit for that road as is. If it doesn't, there's another table which indicates for what upper 15 kilometre pace speeds are appropriate to align with the appropriate posted speed limits.
Once you have undertaken, the stages 3 and 4 you get to stage 5, which is the assess B consideration, which will then identify, require you to look at the RASL and the SDSL scores. The speeds that would be identified if the RASL and SDSL speeds are the same or correlate. You consider the correlated speed limit if the SDSL is lower than the RASL, you should consider that as drivers travelling at a lower speed. Adopting that SDSL at that lower speed than the infrastructural crash risk might indicate you should adopt the speed data speed limit.
If that, though, there is a need for the RASL to be lower than the speed data speed limit, which means because probably travelling faster than the road environment or the crash rate indicates is appropriate.
You should consider the RASL speed and speed management activities to help enforce to drive as what the speed limit is now going to be or is.
Stage six, as I mentioned, is the other considerations.
This stage involves consideration of site specific circumstances that could affect the selection of the appropriate speed limit.
The function, features, activity or other circumstances may not be captured in determination of the speed data speed limit or the risk assessed speed limit and hence in the speed limit selected in stage 5 consideration.
A very common one is school zones. A speed zone properties stretches well beyond the length of the school zone that another consideration is to the setting of the school zone speed, which is section 7.1.
So the 19 items school zone activities, variable speed limits, dual speed zones, roads through strip shopping centres or commercial areas, arterial roads through rural towns, roads with high crash rates, high crash rural intersections, 110 kilometre speed limits, roads with rough surfaces, temporary speed limits, roundabouts, mountainous roads, service roads, signalised intersections, on and off ramps, laneways, offset speed zones and stakeholder considerations are all identified other considerations.
7.19 is other circumstances.
So list is not exhaustive of all other considerations and you might have. So the section 7.19 has that the engineer should consider if there are other circumstances that exist that should be taken into consideration that may not be listed in the QRSTUV Guide to speed management.
Stage seven is the engineering recommendation.
This is the process of making our recommendation, and the engineer undertaking the speed limit review shall have derived and assessed speed limit, which is one of the following. A criteria based speed limit. The correlated speed limit. The lower of the RASL and SDSL, or speed limit based on other considerations.
Engineering judgement is required to consider whether the recommendation is suitable for the context. For example, consideration should be given to: Is it appropriate with the adjacent speed limits or root consistency? Or is the length of the speed zone appropriate?
Is a road infrastructure elements not previously considered?
It relevant in this circumstance that you may not have considered.
Example is tramway speed limits aren't set by the speed limit review setting process, but if you do have tram weight through your environment and you haven't somehow taken that in consideration make sure you do in this engineering judgement stage.
History of speeding reviews at the subject location. A good example is, let's say a road was historically 60 with a high crash rate and has dropped to 50 a few years ago, and a crash rate's gone away.
Do you go back to 60 and without any speed management activities having been implied or will the crash rate just go back up? So it's always important to consider the historical speed limit reviews and consideration of the movement place function of the road.
Still in stage 7, the responsible officer is to review the speed limit review once completed and once the engineer has forwarded the recommendations to them. And the responsible officer shall, for the engineering recommendation and relevant documentation to the speed Management Committee if the responsible officer is satisfied that the student review has been conducted by a suitably qualified engineer or under the direct supervision of an RPEQ and the speed limit review has been conducted in accordance with the procedures described in the guidelines.
If the Responsible Officer needs clarification, they can go back to the engineer and may seek further advice from the engineer before submitting to the SMC.
As speed limit review with recommendation to retain an existing speed limit review and undertake no works is still a speed limit review and is still required to be submitted to the Speed Management Committee.
A desktop review does not have to be submitted to the speed Management Committee as it does not constitute a full speed limit review.
Stage eight is approval implementation. So at this stage.
The three key groups are the speed management committee. Who gives the endorsement or not endorsement, the responsible officer and the Speed limit Review panel.
The responsibilities of the speed Management Committee are to review the speed limit review recommendations to ensure that the interests of all Road users are considered before speed zones are speed zone is established.
Endorse or not, endorse the findings of speed limit review, and if not, endorse provide documentation on the reasons why the recommendations are not endorsed.
As mentioned, the membership is an engineering representation from the local government or representing the local government and engineering representative from the relevant TMR office.
A QPS representative and a TMR Road safety advisor Road safety manager.
An SMC may have non member observers attended a meeting, although it was noted this excludes elected officials, although it was never shall not have a role in endorsing or not endorsing of the speed limit review.
It is up to the discretion of the SMC as to which observers may or may not attend an SMC meeting.
In regards to the responsible officers overview, now it's come back to them.
They have the responsibility to organise and act as a chair of the SMC meetings for reviews undertaken for its own jurisdiction.
Provide SMC documentation to the engineer if a recommendation is not endorsed and refer any recommendations to the speed limit review panel as required and approve and implement any recommendations.
They also are to maintain a speeding limit file containing any documentation through the approval process. Keep records of the upcoming implementation of speed limit review and submit to the [email protected] mailbox or through the approved online system. (Doesn't exist currently but is in development). Ultimate authority and final decision holder to approve any recommendation for the speed limit review process is the responsible officer.
Responsibilities for the speed limit review panel are to undertake independent assessment.
Of any recommended reference recommendations by the responsible officer and provide recommendations to responsible officer to assist in determining an outcome.
The Speed Limit Review panel comprises the Director of Safe Roads being the chair, the Manager of Safer Roads, the Director of Road Design, the Director of Traffic Engineering, and the Principal Engineer of Safer Roads.
This panel can also get membership of others members as needed depending on what the referred speed limit review is.
There are two sections, section 9.7 and 7.17. Here we've got these little boxes, where communication and stakeholder consultation have been identified. These are inclusions that had previously not been in the MUTCD part 4.
First is communication. There is the need to consider what communication strategy will be adopted based on the outcome to the speed limit review process and the jurisdiction should consider working with communication experts to help determine the best way to communicate the speed limit review, which will vary depending on the outcomes and likely impacted stakeholders and community.
The next one is the stakeholder consultation. This is one of the other considerations in Section 7.
There is a need consider prior to making decision on a posted speed limit if there are any stakeholders that should be consulted who may have information that will help in determining the appropriate posted speed limit or potential speed limit activities.
States nine. The final stage is the monitoring evaluation.
Speed limit review process involves the monitoring and evaluation speed limit review that has been said.
Or a speed limit review has been altered the outcome should be assessed ideally within three months. That is when speed limit review comes back with a proposed change, there should be an assessment undertaken within three months after physical implementation to ensure that it was suitably implemented.
Existing speed limit reviews should be programmed for speed limit review desktop review every five years.
As mentioned, the new desktop review spreadsheet provided online and this process identified in the guidance makes it quite easy to identify if there is a need to then do a full speed limit review. But there is a requirement that all roads, and this has existed in the documentation previously, all roads are reviewed every five years with at least a desktop review.
A full speed limit review should be conducted, whereas speed limit desktop reviewed identifies changes in traffic characteristics, land use or increases in casualty crashes, or other circumstances.
Coming back quick summary of the speed limit review process, the 9 stages need for speed limit review have been identified.
The criteria based speed limit process, determine risk assessed speed limit or determine the risk, speed data speed limit, which will then give you an assessed speed consideration which will also consider other considerations before the engineering recommendation is made, that is then passed up through the responsible officer to stage 8 for approval and implementation by approval by the SMC and potentially SLRP if needed before implementation by the response organised by the responsible officer and then monitoring and evaluation.
Today we've looked at through this module and understanding the legislation, operational documents that inform the speed limit setting process in QLD.
I looked at the understanding of the principles supporting the determination and speed limits in Queensland and understanding the roles and responsibilities involved in speed limit review process and understand the nine stage of the speed limit review process. This has been recorded so you can come back and look at a link to a number of the documents and references to the images that have been used in this presentation. That concludes this presentation.