If a school zone has calming curbs, then drivers will go slower, because the road gets more narrow and they will slow down to avoid an obstacle or wrecking their car.  

Louis Riel School - Calming Measures (Calming Curb)

Cedarbrae School - No Calming Measures (In Road Pedestrian Sign)

Driver’s will slow down when there are calming curbs because…

The calming curb narrow the road causing the driver to slow down. We have observed this within the Louis Riel school zone.

We have also observed that even though Cedarbrae school has no calming curbs, the cars still go slower when the road is narrowed by obstacles like parked vehicles when people are dropping off and picking up their children. We think this is because the cars, buses or vehicles act like a calming curb by coming out into the road and narrowing it.

30km/h is the maximum speed limit in both urban and rural school zones. But why these speed limits? Because serious injuries happen when cars exceed 30 km/h. When drivers go slower, lives are saved. If a pedestrian is hit by vehicle travelling 50km/h they have a 20% chance of survival. A pedestrian hit by a car travelling 40km/h has a 40% chance of survival. While a pedestrian hit by a car going 30km/h or slower has a 90% chance of survival.

When it is winter most accidents happen when people speed. By the time the driver gets to the crosswalk they can't stop for the kids that go across the crosswalk because of road conditions, weather, or other circumstances (like being late for work or not having winter tires, or being distracted by screens/devices in the vehicle). 

Accidents also happen when people are distracted!

Other dangerous situations occur when drivers ignore or are unable to hear/see signs or sounds.

Another way accidents are more likely to happen are when people don't have winter tires or they are unprepared for the weather or road conditions.

In 2020/21, the City of Calgary partnered with the University of Calgary on a traffic safety project near elementary schools. They wanted to see if traffic calming curbs (Louis Riel School Zone) and in-street pedestrian signs (Cedarbrae School Zone) would have a positive impact on drivers speeds (they would go slower) and the number of people walking/biking (there would be more people walking/biking). Based on the results of this study, schools with grade 6 and under would benefit from having these calming measures! Our research compares the effectiveness of calming curbs to the effectiveness of the in road pedestrian sign.

This is a calming curb!

This is an in road pedestrian sign!

Responding Variables:

• Driver/Vehicle speed.
• Reaction to school zone calming measures (curb vs. in road sign).

Manipulated Variables: 

• Direction of measurement (North and South travel of vehicles).
• Time of measurement (AM and PM).

Extraneous Variables:

• Weather
• Road conditions (icy, clear, slush, snowy etc.)
• Traffic volume
• Pedestrian traffic
• Public transit stop (visual distraction)

Controlled Variables:

• Location of radar (same location used each time for North measurements and South measurements in the school zones).
• School zones.
• Speed measurement tools (radar and Edge^Ⓡ).
• Duration of measurement (10 min. Or 10 cars whichever is first).
• Speed limit.

1) Select a safe spot in the first chosen school zone. 

2) Set up the radar in the safe spot (make sure the lights on the radar are off to maintain safety and decrease driver distraction).

3) Sync radar to the Edge^Ⓡ device.

4) Monitor the Edge^Ⓡ so when the radar detects a vehicle you can watch the measured speed.

5) Watch the vehicle to see if/when the driver slows down to the posted speed limit of 30km/hr.

6) Write down the school zone, date, time and speed of the driver as it passes the radar. 

• Make a note of whether the driver slowed down because of the calming curb, your vehicle or other reason.

7) Track the speed of vehicles for 10 minutes or 10 cars, whichever comes first.

8) Gather the radar, and safely move to your next school zone.

9) Follow steps 1-8 with vehicles travelling in the same direction as the first school zone.

10) Follow steps 1-8 with cars travelling in the opposite direction as the first and second school zone, but stay in the second school zone.

11) Follow steps 1-8 with cars travelling in the same direction as your last recording but return to the first school zone.

12) Repeat steps multiple times both in the AM, and PM and over a period of 3-5 days.

13) Compare and analyze the data from both school zones.

Legend

Observations for No Calming Measures (In Road Pedestrian Sign)

Observations for Calming Measures (Calming Curb)

Observations for No Calming Measures (In Road Pedestrian Sign)

Observations for Calming Measures (Calming Curb)

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether traffic calming measures work in school zones. The results showed that drivers do slow down for the calming measures, and in general slow down for school zones. In the school zone with calming curbs 83.81% of drivers slowed for the calming measures. Meanwhile the school zone with no calming measures (in road pedestrian sign) had 74.44% of drivers slow down, a difference of 9.37%, supporting our hypothesis that drivers will slow down when there are traffic calming measures or a calming curb. 

Our data showed that most cars came in the afternoon, not in the morning. At the school zone with no calming measures (in road pedestrian sign) drivers slowed down more when we parked across from another car, making the road narrower. Cars traveling North sped more often.

A limitation of the experiment was that there were no kids (data in December and January was recorded over winter break), so people may not have felt the need to slow down in the school zone. People were on winter break, that meant there might be fewer pedestrians the drivers would need to watch out for.

Future research or experiments should consider doing this experiment when school is running, not on a break so that traffic flow, pedestrian patterns and driver behaviours are more typical.*

This data supports the use of calming measures in school zones to increase the safety of pedestrians and students. Calming measures make our streets safer for all users and this data supports the use of calming measures in all school zones to keep students safe as they cross the road. 

+As of December 17, 2024 the CBC journalist, Andrew Jeffrey, reports that the in-street signage in school zones are frequently damaged and run over. At a cost of $650/sign, the city has spent a quarter of a million dollars replacing the instreet neon pedestrian signs. This further supports the use of calming curbs to support drivers in reducing their speed as calming curbs require less maintenance and appear to be more cost effective because they do not break when drivers hit them. One suggestion is to put curb extensions in to protect the neon pedestrian signs.

++On March 13, 2025 at the Calgary Safety Expo we were able to ask a Calgary Police Officer about his knowledge in regard to calming measures and school zones. He shared that during his time with the Calgary Police Service he observed that calming curbs also work better than the in road pedestrian signs as he has ticketed or stopped drivers more consistently in school zones with in road pedestrian signs or no calming measures.

*Data was collected on March 7, 2025 to observe driver speeds when students were in school. 

The March 7 data supports the use of calming curbs when compared to in road pedestrian signs as 5.4% more drivers slowed down at the calming curb when compared to the in road pedestrian sign.

We can use this reaserch to help peope when they walk home or walk to school. We hope to be able to talk to the City of Calgary and ask how they determine which school zones get calming curbs and which receive in road pedestrian signs. Finally, if they would consider transiting more school zones to calming curbs in light of the new information that suggests the in road pedestrian signs cost more to maintain and our data that calming curbs are more effective.

A limitation of the experiment, is that there were no kids so people may not have felt the need to slow down in the school zone. People were on winter break, so that made there be fewer things the drivers would need to watch out for. Future research or experiments should consider, doing this experiment when school is running, not on a break so that traffic flow, pedestrian patterns and driver behaviours are more typical.

*Data was collected on March 7, 2025 to observe driver speeds when students were in school. 

A limitation of the March 7 data is the smaller sample size.

School and Playground Zones | Alberta.ca

https://www.calgary.ca/roads/safety/elementary-schools-traffic-study.html

https://www.calgary.ca/roads/safety/traffic-calming-curbs.html

https://www.tac-atc.ca/en/knowledge-centre/technical-resources-search/webinars/traffic-calming-curbs-making-roads-safer-in-calgary/

https://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/traffic_safety/residential-speed-limits?utm_source=virtualaddress&utm_campaign=safespeeds

https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7412086

We would like to acknowledge Jenn and Mike (Addie's parents) because they helped with the trifold, with our sildes, and Mike let us borrow his radar and his Garmin for the experiment.

We would also like to acknowledge the Calgary Police Service because they gave us some valuable information at the Safety Expo.