Skip to main content

Variable speed limit signs deployed in Canada

The British Columbia government in Canada has deployed variable speed limit signs along three highways in the province, Highway 99, Highway 5, and Highway 1, which are prone to rapidly changing weather..Variable speed limit signs display the legal speed limit when road and weather conditions change. From 2 June, motorists are required to obey the signs, which are regulatory and enforced by the police. Static message signs at the entrance to each corridor inform travellers they are entering a variable
June 10, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The British Columbia government in Canada has deployed variable speed limit signs along three highways in the province, Highway 99, Highway 5,  and Highway 1, which are prone to rapidly changing weather..Variable speed limit signs display the legal speed limit when road and weather conditions change.

From 2 June, motorists are required to obey the signs, which are regulatory and enforced by the police.

Static message signs at the entrance to each corridor inform travellers they are entering a variable speed zone. A digital message sign (DMS) at the beginning of each corridor warns drivers of changing weather conditions. Flashing lights installed above each variable speed limit sign are activated when a reduced speed limit is in effect.

Traffic, road and visibility sensors monitor real-time traffic speeds as well as road and weather conditions to provide recommended reduced speeds back to operations staff who then adjust the electronic signs to let drivers know what speed they should be travelling for the current conditions.

Webcams installed along each of the routes monitor traffic and weather conditions to provide drivers and operators at the Regional Transportation Management with real time information on conditions along the routes.

Related Content

  • Europe’s road safety gains have stagnated EU
    March 17, 2017
    Europe will fail to meet its road death targets as enforcement budgets are slashed and drivers face an epidemic of distractions. The European Union will not achieve its aim of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020, delegates to Tispol’s (the organisation of European traffic police) annual conference in Manchester were told. “The target will be missed because there was only a 17% decrease in road fatalities across Europe between 2010 and 2015 when [the rate of reduction] should h
  • Cooperative infrastructure systems waiting for the go ahead
    February 3, 2012
    Despite much research and technological promise, progress towards cooperative infrastructure system deployment is still slow. Here, Robert Cone and John Miles take a considered look at how and when it might come about. From a systems engineering viewpoint it looks logical and inevitable that vehicles should be communicating between themselves and with the road infrastructure. But seen from a business viewpoint the case is not proven.
  • Innovative traffic information system
    January 31, 2012
    From the roadside James Foster compiles some eye-catching news, deployments and product picks from the work zone
  • Driving forward cooperative intersection safety applications
    July 24, 2012
    Gregory Davis, FHWA, John Harding, NHTSA, and Mike Schagrin, ITS Joint Program Office (RITA) chart the course for cooperative intersection safety applications being pursued as part of the IntelliDrive programme. Crashes at intersections accounted for 8,703 highway fatalities in the US in 2008. Research and development is moving forward on IntelliDriveSM safety applications designed to help drivers avoid intersection accidents. These new safety systems could substantially drive down the highway death and inj