Frequently Asked Questions

Traffic Calming FAQ

• How can I request traffic calming on my street?

  Traffic calming requests and speeding concerns can be sent to engineeringinfo@nanaimo.ca. Once your request is received, we will send an acknowledgement receipt and start the traffic calming process.

• What is 85th percentile speed?

  The 85th percentile speed is the speed at or below which 85% of all vehicles are observed to travel under favourable conditions. It is a widely used metric in traffic engineering as it allows one to observe and analyze the speed of which the majority of drivers travel at and can be considered the operating speed. Ideally, the operating speed should be close to the speed limit. 

• Why use 85th percentile speed over average speed?

  People who drive at or below the 85th percentile speed represent the majority of drivers. Reckless drivers who travel well above the speed limit are a common concern. There are a minority of people who will drive recklessly regardless of road design. If average speed was used instead of 85th percentile, our speed data would not represent the vast majority of drivers’ behaviour. 

• What can be done about reckless drivers who speed excessively?

  While reckless speeding is unfortunate, traffic calming is not an appropriate solution to this problem. If you have concerns about specific reckless drivers, you may report your concerns to the RCMP non-emergency department. [Contact]

• Would lower speed limits help slow drivers down?

  Speed limits have less of an impact on driver behaviour than physical changes to the road design. Drivers tend to drive faster on wide, straight roads, regardless of what the speed limit is. 

• Why are arterial and major collector roads not considered for Traffic Calming?

  Typically, these types of roads were built to carry a large volume of traffic moving efficiently at the posted speed limit. As they have high capacities with the prime function of moving goods and people (rather than providing access to property like minor collector and local roads), they are not considered as part of the scope of traffic calming. As well, speed humps and other traffic calming features are not favourable here since we need to maintain accepted response time targets for emergency vehicles and minimize impacts on transit buses and their riders.

• Why do we need criteria for traffic calming? Don’t most roads experience some forms of speeding?

  With limited resources, criteria for traffic calming were determined so that we could prioritize the traffic calming requests. If the 85th percentile speed of your road is above the speed limit but below the current threshold, speeding concerns can be addressed through other means such as RCMP enforcement and neighbourhood speed watch, and the traffic data on your road and your request for traffic calming will remain in the City’s records.

• What if I don’t want traffic calming on my street?

  We carry out public engagement during the process and listen carefully to concerns from the neighbourhood. Traffic calming is only carried out when the majority of the neighbourhood is supportive.

• How much does traffic calming cost?

  Costs vary and depend on the type of traffic calming features employed over the length of the road segment.

• Is there funding from other levels of government for traffic calming?

  ICBC’s road improvement program sometimes partners by contributing a portion of funding for traffic calming projects.

• Why isn’t my street a priority?

  We respond in chronological order to when the request was received.