Date of Graduation

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair

David Martinelli

Committee Co-Chair

Avinash Unnikrishnan

Committee Member

Ronald Eck

Abstract

School travel safety has been a concern for transportation and government officials for a long time. Traffic incidents are among the leading causes of child mortality, and many of these incidents can be related to school travel. While the school travel landscape has changed drastically over the past several decades, little has changed with regards to school zone traffic regulation, particularly in West Virginia. Speed trailers were installed at a rural high school located along a West Virginia highway to assess the effectiveness of these types of devices in lowering vehicle speeds near urban schools along high-speed roads. A student survey was also conducted at three schools to determine school travel mode choice trends and gauge student perceptions of safety in their school travel. While significant reductions in average speeds in the presence of speed trailers were observed, compliance with the school zone speed limit was decidedly low. Student survey responses indicated that attitudes and perceptions of school zone safety varied between types of locations. Under the right circumstances, the implementation of speed monitoring displays can be a valuable measure to reduce school zone speeds, particularly when schools are located on or near high-speed roadways.

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