Updated Guidelines for the Design and Application of Speed Humps

This paper will describe how speed humps have gained acceptance as a traffic calming device by North American and international jurisdictions. However, design and application varies widely between jurisdictions, and speed humps often meet resistance from residents and road users. For this reason, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) published a Recommended Practice for the design and application of speed humps in 1997. The recommended practice is now being updated to provide state-of-the-practice guidelines for speed humps and speed tables. To update the ITE speed humps recommended practice, the experiences of agencies implementing speed humps were obtained through an extensive literature review. The literature review was supplemented with an online survey targeting North American and international jurisdictions. This paper provides an overview of the recommended framework for an agency to follow to implement speed humps or speed tables in their jurisdiction. This framework is based on the experience documented by dozens of agencies. The framework includes: (1) developing and follow a formal public consultation process; (2) determining the needs of the street or neighborhood; (3) constructing and maintaining speed humps; and (4) monitoring and evaluating speed hump effectiveness.