Our local streets are where people live, workplay and connect. As part of the Perth Inner City Group (PICG) the Town is aiming to roll out slower speeds (40km/h) on all local access roads, to improve road safety. This is part of a larger project covering the whole inner-city area, encompassing the PICG:
- City of Perth
- City of Subiaco
- City of South Perth
- Town of Victoria Park
- City of Vincent (completed)
Why 40km/h?
The Town is a dynamic place for everyone – we aim to make the place we live, work and play accessible and safe for all. By slowing down the speeds on local access roads, we can create safer neighbourhoods and safer environments for driving, walking and riding.
Research shows that reducing speed on local access roads to 40km/h significantly reduces the severity of car crashes, therefore reducing the likelihood of fatalities. Further, a 20% reduction from 50km/h to 40km/h in speed results in a 200% increase in the likelihood of a person surviving a collision with a moving vehicle.
The benefits:
- A reduction in the number of road crashes
- A reduction in the severity of road crashes
- Streets become safer for all road users including people walking, driving, and riding
- The Town can better direct resources for road safety infrastructures
- Slower neighbourhoods support more connected communities
- A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
- Only a minor impact on average travel times
City of Vincent case study
The City of Vincent has already successfully trialled and implemented 40km/h speed zones on their local streets.
In 2018, the City proposed a 40km/h speed zone trial within their southern suburban residential areas.
The trial evaluation report demonstrated after twelve months, crash records indicated that there was some crash reduction effect on the trial roads. This reduction coincided with a long-term decline in overall crashes within the City. Further, significant increases in walking and cycling were observed at the four observation sites within the City. An increase of 14% more pedestrians and cyclists were observed in the twelve-month survey conducted, compared to a February 2019 baseline.
In 2023, Main Roads WA (MRWA) approved permanent 40km/h speed limits in parts of North Perth, in addition to the existing trial area. This covered 40% of the City's local access roads. In 2024, MRWA granted approval for the speed to be permanently reduced on all local access roads within the City.
Community consultations demonstrated significant support for the reduction of the speed limits, with almost 60% of respondents showing they were in favour of the change.
Check out the full case study on the PICG website here.
Stay tuned
This is a PICG project. The project proposes to create a slower inner-city neighbourhood precinct across the aforementioned local governments which form PICG, as well as the Town of Cambridge - a total of approximately 62km2.
The project scope relates to local access roads only (residential streets), with main roads or distributor roads being considered by MRWA only by exception. MRWA are the lead agency for setting speed limits, and determine the number and placement of speed signs on all streets and roads. Once approved, MRWA will work with PICG and each individual member council to plan the roll out of new signs. This will likely take over 12 months to implement.
More information about the project, including which roads within the Town will have speeds reduced, will be provided shortly.
Project information, including research, case studies and more can be found on the PICG website here.