Speed Policy Comparisons across Victoria, Australia and British Columbia, Canada

Ongoing

Significant opportunities exist to learn from international leaders in road safety speed policy in order to improve safety on our roads. Comparing road safety performance between similar jurisdictions can illuminate policy performance gaps and areas for improvement, and requires analysis of both road traffic burden and road safety policies. British Columbia, Canada and Victoria, Australia were identified as suitable jurisdictions to compare speed management policies based on the following factors:

  1. Criteria used by previous benchmarking studies such as comparable levels of development, similar systems of government, demography, motorization and transport system
  2. Both jurisdictions plan to reduce road traffic deaths by 50% by 2030
  3. Victoria has been a global leader in ASE implementation since 1989, contributing to significant reductions in road traffic fatalities in Victoria over the last 50 years
  4. The growing momentum for and adoption of reduced residential area speed limits among municipalities in B.C.

Using qualitative methods, we aim to:

  1. Compare speed-related policy indicators between Victoria and B.C.
  2. Compare ASE and 30km/hr speed zone policies between Victoria and B.C.
  3. Solicit experts' opinions regarding the differences in ASE and 30km/hr zones policies between Victoria and B.C. in terms of effectiveness, unintended effects, equity and implementation considerations

We anticipate that the findings of this project will aid in understanding speed-related road safety performance between two similar jurisdictions, and identify opportunities to enhance speed-related policy.

Relevant publications

  • Pearson L, Oakey M, Nelson B, Karbakhsh M, Karmali S, Beck B. Cross-country policy comparison of 30 km/h speed limits. Cities & Health. 2025 Jan 4:1-2. doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4856919