This summary report on Work Area 1 of the project MASTER (MAnaging the Speeds of Traffic on European Roads) addresses the question "What are acceptable ranges of speeds?" Key findings from this work area concerning the effects of speed levels upon accident occurrence, exhaust emissions, noise, vehicle operating costs and travel times are summarised together with findings from Work Area 2 on the acceptability of current levels of speed to drivers, vulnerable road users and local residents. A comprehensive yet flexible framework is proposed for summarising these effects and their distribution to assist decision-makers in consulting potentially affected people about proposed measures and policies for speed management on particular road sections or throughout particular areas, and then to help them also in reaching decisions about such proposals. Concerning the various inputs to this framework in terms of functions or models representing the various effects of speed, available functions, models and data sources are identified, and requirements for further work to develop these and make them available to users of the framework are set out. (A)
Abstract