Public Works - Traffic - Town of Southwest Ranches, Florida

Neighborhood residents may request the assistance of the Town of Southwest Ranches to help minimize speeding and cut-through traffic. The goal of the Southwest Ranches Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program is to promote neighborhood "livability" by lessening the negative impacts of traffic in our rural ranches Town.

To request a Traffic Calming remedy for your neighborhood, Contact Southwest Ranches at: (954) 434-0008 or Download a Request Form!

Mail it to:
Town Hall
6589 SW 160 Avenue
Southwest Ranches, FL 33331

Pace Car Program

The Traffic Tamer PACE CAR Program is an exciting citizen-based initiative designed to slow traffic on residential streets without the need for physical barriers. It uses cars to calm cars, simply by encouraging residents to drive the legal speed limit. Drivers observe Florida Statutes by stopping for school buses, pedestrians, animals and equestrian activity. Simple! By pledging to drive as carefully through other neighborhoods as they would like others to drive through their own, drivers can sign on to become a Traffic Tamer PACE CAR.

A Pace Car is a car whose driver has signed a pledge to go the speed limit on city streets, and to be courteous of other road users when driving, walking, biking or riding a horse. A Pace Car Driver takes into consideration not only personal convenience, but also the impact of his or her choices on others when choosing when and how to drive

How can I become a Pace Car Driver?

Just fill out the registration form and sign the pledge.We can give you our bumper sticker now.

We have two cars. Can I get two bumper stickers?

Is there another driver in the house? We can give you an extra pledge form so they can sign it. We have a limited number of stickers so we'd really like to get a pledge form for every sticker we give out. We want to make sure there's a Pace Car driver in front of every bumper sticker on the road!

Can I take some extra pledge forms for my housemates and neighbors?

Of course. You might also consider becoming a volunteer Pace Car recruiter. You can sign the sign-up sheet or call the Town of Southwest Ranches at 954-434-0008. You'll get a kit with information, instruction and tips as well as pledge forms.

I'm afraid that if I put this sticker on my car, I'll be the target of road rage.

Road rage certainly contributes to the atmosphere of fear on our streets. The idea is that the Pace Car sticker will "legitimize" driving within the speed limit: that it's a matter of consideration for others, not timidity or cluelessness. It's an education, or awareness, just like it is not cool to litter, it's not cool to speed, it's good to recycle, it's good to drive the speed limit. That is the theory. In practice, we have talked to Pace Car coordinators in other cities where the program has been in operation for a year or more, and none have reported incidents of road rage directed at Pace Car drivers.

Is this program costing a lot of my tax money?

Since the Pace Car program relies on personal responsibility, self-discipline, and volunteerism, it's not very costly to implement. The cost of printing bumper stickers and other materials is a small fraction of the cost of one speed bump or other traffic calming installation.

Where did the idea for the Pace Car Program come from?

The Pace Car concept came out of a series of workshops Australian traffic-calming advocate David Engwicht held with residents of a Boise, Idaho neighborhood which had been severely affected by heavy traffic and speeding. At first, the residents were very angry at David for suggesting that they take the initiative in solving their traffic woes. Then one of the residents described how she had begun "escorting" cars down her street at peak traffic times so her neighbors could get in and out of their driveways. It was the only thing she felt she could do to regain a sense of control in an out-of-control situation. Immediately, a group of neighbors offered to join her in escorting traffic. Out of this meeting the Pace Car program was born. The Town of Southwest Ranches, Town Council approved implementation of Traffic Calming in June 2001.

What other cities have started Pace Car Programs?

* Remember all intersections are legal cross walks whether they are painted or not.

How do I sign up?

Please be advised that under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone at (954)434-0008, or in writing at 6589 SW 160 AVE, Southwest Ranches, FL 33331.

Legal: Disclaimer