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Home zones are residential areas where the built environment is designed to be places for people, not just for motor traffic. Their aim is to change the way that streets are used in order to improve the quality of life for residents including children and those that walk or cycle. A home zone allows a wide range of activities to take place in the street on space that was formerly considered to be exclusively for vehicles. Changes to the layout of the street should emphasise this change of use, so that motorists perceive they should give informal priority to other road users. Both hard and soft landscaping are appropriate. Magor village in Monmouthshire is one of nine home zone schemes in a pilot programme set up by the Department for Transport (DfT). TRL was commissioned by DfT to assess the effectiveness of each pilot home zone scheme in achieving its aims. In order to determine their impact, a comprehensive 'before' and 'after' monitoring programme was devised. This included attitudinal surveys of residents both adults and children, collection of traffic flow, traffic speed, accident data and video recording. Sixty-four percent of residents were in favour of the home zone after construction. Many residents regarded parking within the home zome as an unresolved issue with further restrictions or controls needed. Mean speeds in the home zone were 12.2-13.9mph, compared with 22mph outside it. Wallking in the home zone was considered more pleasant by 39% of respondents. Most cyclists considered that cycling was neither more or less pleasant. About half of respondents considered that their journeys were more difficult since the home zone. Sixty-one percent of residents did not consider that children should play on the streets of the home zone because the traffic made it unsafe, or because children should play in the parks, or because the street is considered too narrow. The accident rate within the home zone was comparable with the surrounding area, with about one accident per year. (A)
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