As elsewhere in the world, the term "traffic calming" has grabbed the imagination of the public, politicians and a wide range of professionals in Australia. This paper explains the simple three-level categorisation of traffic calming actions proposed by ARRB and uses it to show how Australia's extensive experience in environmental traffic management in neighbourhoods (under the name "local area traffic management") fits into the wider perspective of traffic calming. A short history of this experience is presented and some illustrations will show examples. Cautionary lessons for those communities which are contemplating local traffic calming will be noted: even at the local level, the Australian experience has been that it is not easy. Traffic calming schemes are rarely universally popular; planning, design and implementation must be of high quality (and therefore usually expensive); and the results are not always what was intended. (A) This paper includes an extensive bibliography.
Abstract