Poll shows British Columbians want lower speed limits on residential streets

A poll recently conducted by Research Co. has found that a majority of British Columbians are in favour of lowering speed limits on residential streets.

Support for automated speed enforcement was also strong.

According to Research Co., 63% of British Columbians said it was a good idea to reduce the speed limit on residential streets from 50 km/h to 30 km/h while keeping the speed limit on "arterial and collector roads" as is at 50 km/h. That marks a 2% increase in support since the question was last posed in a similar survey in November 2023.

Speeding vehicles on residential streets are a frequent occurrence in the province. The poll found that 40% of respondents saw a vehicle "that they perceive is circulating above the speed limit of 50 km/h on the street where they live 'at least once a day'." A further 30% said they experienced that "a few times a week."

A majority of respondents made it clear that lowering speed limits wasn't enough, with over 70% saying automated speed enforcement was necessary. Among the methods approved were speed-on-green intersection cameras, or red light cameras that "also capture vehicles that are speeding through intersections," fixed speed cameras, which "stay in one location and measure speed as a vehicle passes," and point-to-point enforcement, which "uses cameras at two or more distant points on a road to issue tickets to vehicles whose average speed over the distance was excessive."

"The use of speed-on-green cameras, which is currently in place in British Columbia, remains popular across the province," Research Co. President Mario Canseco said. "Majorities of residents aged 18-to-34 (72%), aged 35-to-54 (also 72%) and aged 55 and over (also 72%) are in favour of this type of automated speed enforcement."

Support for the aforementioned enforcement methods was relatively similar across political lines.