The BC Trucking Association has submitted a letter to the City of Vancouver to express significant concern with the speed reduction pilot being proposed.
The City is recommending that the speed limit be lowered on sections of the truck route network at elementary schools. BCTA believes that if this pilot is implemented, it will create a byzantine road network that further diminishes safety along the intended and adjacent corridors.
Our number one priority is safety, however, recent enforcement effort on 216th Street in Langley demonstrates that speeding of commercial vehicles in the school and playground zones is not a common driving offence. In fact, not one ticket was issued to a commercial vehicle.
Our experience has shown that without regular enforcement of the current laws, simply lowering the speed limit will:
- Not change long term behaviour of passenger vehicles;
- Increase congestion due the slower speed limits, resulting in increased accidents and greenhouse gas emissions along the truck route network; and
- Increase speeding and passenger vehicle detours along adjacent residential side streets.
In support of safety, we do recommend CoV consider installing permanent fixed automated enforcement (i.e., speed cameras) along these stretches of road to curb passenger vehicle speeding at the existing speed limits. Permanent fixed automated enforcement is a proven safety technology that has been implemented across North America and its success is not predicated on the availability of enforcement by Vancouver Police.
For full details, please see BCTA’s March 11th Letter to the City of Vancouver on the Proposed Speed Reduction Along Truck Route Network.