Review of 20mph default speed limit exceptions: terms of reference
Terms of reference for the group looking at 20mph default speed limit exceptions.
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Membership
The review team comprises:
- Phil Jones, the Chair of the 20mph Task Force Group
- Peter Jones, Professor of Transport and Sustainable Development at University College London, who has had no involvement in 20mph implementation and will provide an independent perspective
- Kaarina Ruta, Transport Adviser at the Welsh Local Government Association.
The team will work with a review group comprising Welsh Government officials, local authority officers and other experts and partners.
Purpose
The review will examine the application of guidance given to highway authorities in setting exceptions to the default 20mph limit.
Remit
Feedback from the highway authorities has helped the review team gain an understanding of the application of the guidance in different parts of Wales; reflect on that application and consider whether clarifications and modifications to the guidance are needed to encourage greater consistency across Wales in the approach taken to roads that appear to be on the threshold between 20mph and 30mph.
The review team are to consider the feedback alongside other evidence to prepare draft conclusions and initial recommendations for consideration by the review group and then submit to the Welsh Government for publication in February 2024. The review team will then engage with local authority cabinet members and other key stakeholders, as well as representatives of industries affected by the speed limit changes, including bus operators and regional bus service planning teams. The review team, together with the Welsh Government, will offer support to local authorities where they are keen to rapidly consider changes to roads where the decision between a 20mph and 30mph speed limit is less clear cut.
The review team will prepare a final report, accompanied by draft updated guidance on setting the speed limits in settlements affected by the 20mph default speed limit and exceptions, building on implementation experience to date, and make recommendations on how this could be applied to communities on roads which currently have higher speed limits. Updates to the guidance could include, for example, taking into account the impact on bus routes and local communities.