Glossary
| 85th percentile | Speed measurement denoting how
fast 85% of the vehicles in an area are going. The speeds of 100
cars are measured to get this number. E.g: Assume a speed limit
of 30 MPH. If the fastest speed of the slowest 85 is 34
MPH, then the 85%-ile is 34 MPH. This is not to say that all 85 are doing 34 MPH. 84 cars could be going 5 MPH, with the 85th doing 34 MPH, and the 85%-ile would still be 34 MPH. |
| Speeding | Vehicular motion in excess of the posted speed limit. |
| Speed
table (from Traffic Calming.org) |
Speed tables are flat-topped
speed humps. Speed tables are sometimes long enough for the
entire wheelbase of a passenger car to rest on the flat section.
Their long flat fields give speed tables higher design speeds
than speed humps Advantages:
Disadvantages:
|
| Speed hump
(From Traffic Calming.org) |
Speed humps are rounded raised
areas placed across the roadway. They are generally 10 to 14
feet long (in the direction of travel). The profile of a
speed hump can be circular, parabolic, or sinusoidal. They are
often tapered as they reach the curb on each end to allow
unimpeded drainage.
Profile usually based on a 750-foot circle. Advantages:
Disadvantages:
|
| Speed bump | Various in size, usually about a foot deep, 6 inches high, and any width. What is found in parking lots. Illegal on all public roads in the U.S. |
| bumpout | Also known as chokers, are curb extensions at midblock locations that narrow a street by widening the sidewalk or planting strip. |
| chicane | Chicanes are curb extensions that alternate from one side of the street to the other, forming S-shaped curves. |
| median | Median barriers are islands located along the centerline of a street, They sometimes continue through an intersection so as to block through movement at a cross street. |
| neck-down | Neckdowns are curb extensions at intersections that reduce the roadway width from curb to curb. |
| FHWA | Federal Highway Administration
:The federal organization that sets safety, construction,
and policy regulations for the nations highways, of any size. .
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ Topics: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/topics.htm |
| AASHTO | American Association of State and Highway Traffic Offices |
| NHTSA | National Highway Transportation Safety Administration : the agency directs the highway safety and consumer programs established by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, the Highway Safety Act of 1966, the 1972 Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, and succeeding amendments to these laws. |
| MDOT | Maine Dept. of Transportation. |
| DEP | Department of Environmental Protection : Maine agency whose job it is to promote sound environmental policy and programs |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
| NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act. |
| CMAQ | Congestion Mitigation Air Quality a federal program that funds air quality improvement projects. |
| MTROBA | Mayors Taskforce Report On Brighton Avenue |
| ITE | The Institute of Transportation
Engineers is an international educational and scientific
association of transportation professionals, 17,000 members in
90 countries, who are responsible for meeting mobility and
safety needs.
http://www.ite.org/traffic/default.asp Together with the FHWA, they set standards for the nations roads. Generally ignored by the Portland City Council. |
| DCNA | Deering Center Neighborhood Association : local group whose ostensible purpose was to improve the Dering Center neighborhood. |
| SAAC | Stevens Avenue Advisory Committee : ad hoc group of people who were telling the DPW what to do via their mouthpieces, Tom Kane and Jim Cloutier. |