Dutch auto-te-gast street with windmill in background

Good Speed by Design: A Network Approach to Traffic Calming

Lennart Nout explains how to slow down car traffic with a comprehensive, network-level approach that goes far beyond just speed bumps.

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Course Info

  • Duration 6 video lessons (58 Mins)
  • Published Published
    2025
  • Trending Trending
  • 4.67
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Browse Course Chapters

  • Chapter Locked
    1.
    Introduction
    Chapter Duration 1 min
  • Chapter Locked
    2.
    What is Traffic Calming
    Chapter Duration 11 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    3.
    Traffic Calming at the Network Level
    Chapter Duration 10 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    4.
    Traffic Calming at the Street Level
    Chapter Duration 18 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    5.
    What about the arterials?
    Chapter Duration 11 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    6.
    Conclusion
    Chapter Duration 5 mins

What You Will Learn

  • Understand the difference between traffic calming at the network and the street level 
  • Learn about traffic psychology 
  • Understand the importance of street width 
  • Learn when to mix and separate traffic
  • Learn how to traffic calm at the network level
  • Learn how to traffic calm at the residential and arterial street level

Course Description

The Dutch cycling network extends for 35,000 km (21,700 miles) – a substantial network with roughly the size and population of New Jersey. Yet only about a third of this system is physically separated from motorized traffic, which is concentrated along faster, higher-order road links. How is the rest of the network made safe for people cycling, especially the oldest and youngest in society (who cycle at the highest rates)? The answer is a comprehensive approach to traffic calming that restricts car access, as well as the volume and speed of motorized traffic through a wide range of techniques. This course reviews the most common techniques, including some that are not usually obvious to road users themselves, and situates them within the overarching logic and objectives of Dutch traffic calming. The course further addresses some common barriers to implementation in a North American context and how to overcome these. The course focuses on the network level before considering various kinds of roads and streets. Students will be able to apply these traffic calming techniques to street design, and review relevant findings drawn from traffic psychology.

Learn these skills

  • Bicycle Planning
  • Parking
  • Pedestrian Planning
  • Transportation
  • Urban Design
  • Walkability

Meet Your Instructor

Lennart Nout

Lennart Nout

Lennart is an urban mobility design consultant, specializing in design and planning of bicycle networks and infrastructure in urban areas. He works for Mobycon, an international urban mobility consulting firm.

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