Enventure Research will shortly begin work on an evaluative research project on behalf of Sheffield City Council, which aims to assess the effectiveness of 20mph speed limits in reducing vehicle speeds and the number and severity of accidents in residential areas.
The Council is committed to introducing 20mph areas to all appropriate residential roads by 2025 and began rolling out the sign only 20mph programme in 2013/14 following implementation in an initial pilot area. In addition, a number of Speed Indicating Devices (SIDs) were placed at sites with community concerns about speeding. These devices display the speed of approaching traffic and an emotive face (‘smiley’ or ‘sad’) dependent on the speed of the oncoming vehicle.
Trained market research interviewers will conduct a survey on-street with 250 residents in a number of sampling locations across Sheffield, aiming to speak to as wide a range of people as possible in order to gather representative views. A questionnaire has been designed to assess perceptions of the effectiveness of 20mph schemes and the level of public support for such schemes.
The fieldwork is scheduled to begin in early January. Upon completion, the results will be analysed by Enventure Research and provided to the Council as a detailed report, which (where appropriate) will compare the findings with earlier research.