30 km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe

12 July 2024

A paper titled “ Review of City-Wide 30km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe ” authored by George Yannis and Eva Michelaraki has been published in Sustainability. This study allows the quantification of the benefits in safety, environment, energy, traffic, livability, and health before and after the phased implementation of city-wide 30 km/h speed limits.

Results from 40 different cities across Europe (including Paris, London, Brussels, and Helsinki) demonstrated that 30 km/h speed limits have led to significant reductions: 37% in road crash fatalities, 18% in emissions, 2.5dB in noise pollution and 7% in fuel consumption (on average), with very small variations of average traffic speed.