Are speed tables and speed bumps the same thing?

No. Speed tables are 22-foot raised pavement sections with a flat-top plateau, designed for 25-mph street environments. Speed bumps are 1 to 3-foot raised devices, typically modular rubber, designed for 5 to 10 mph parking-lot environments. They are not interchangeable.

Why can't I just use a speed bump on a residential street?

A speed bump at a typical residential approach speed (25 to 30 mph) produces an unsafe vertical pulse that risks suspension damage, oil-pan strikes, and driver-control loss. Bumps are designed for 5 to 10 mph; tables (or humps) are designed for street speeds.

Why can't I use a speed table in a parking lot?

You can, but it is usually over-built. A 22-foot table in a parking lot consumes pavement footprint and budget that a 2-foot rubber bump would handle for 5 to 10 percent of the cost. The exception is a table at a customer-pickup lane or drive-thru approach where vehicle position matters.

Which is more effective at slowing traffic?

A bump produces a stronger speed reduction in absolute terms (10 to 12 mph) but only because it is designed for a low-speed environment to begin with. A table on a 25-mph street produces a 5 to 7-mph reduction, which is the right calibration for that environment. The "more effective" question depends on the speed environment.

Can I install one of each on my property?

Yes -- common on apartment complexes, retail centers, and school campuses. The standard Cojo pattern is bumps at parking-lot entries and pedestrian crossings, humps or cushions at mid-drive locations, and tables on any public street that fronts the property.

Speed Table vs Speed Bump: 2026 Selection Guide

Picking between a speed table and a speed bump comes down to two questions: where does the device sit, and how slow do you actually need traffic? A speed table is 22 feet long, built for a 25-mph road environment — residential streets, bus routes, pedestrian-priority intersections. A speed bump is 1 to 3 feet long, built for 5 to 10 mph — parking lots and private driveways. They aren't interchangeable. A bump on a residential street produces unsafe ride dynamics. A table in a parking lot is a $10,000 over-build. Below: the table-vs-bump decision from a buyer's standpoint.

Quick verdict

Setting	Pick
Public residential street	Speed table
Bus route or transit corridor	Speed table
Pedestrian-priority intersection	Speed table
Parking lot circulation lane	Speed bump
Private driveway	Speed bump
Apartment-complex internal drive	Speed bump (entry) and speed hump (mid-drive)
Drive-thru or customer-pickup approach	Speed table (longer variant)
Mid-block calming on a residential street	Speed hump (better fit than either bump or table)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Variable	Speed bump	Speed table
Length (travel direction)	1 to 3 ft	22 ft (3 + 16 + 3)
Height	3 to 4 in	3 to 4 in
Profile	Sharp parabolic or rounded	Trapezoidal flat-top
Design speed	5 to 10 mph	20 to 25 mph
Best environment	Parking lot, driveway	Public street, residential
Material	Mostly modular rubber	Mostly asphalt
Bus impact	Severe (humps standing passengers)	Low (rides flat across plateau)
Fire-truck impact	Severe (jolts gurneys)	Low (gentle climb and descent)
Cost per unit	$200 to $1,200+	$5,000 to $15,000+
Lifespan	5 to 10 years (rubber)	7 to 10 years (asphalt)

The 1-to-3-foot vs 22-foot length difference is the dominant variable. Everything else flows from it.

When to Choose a Speed Bump

Parking lot circulation lanes

The original bump environment. Lots have low baseline speeds (typically 10 to 15 mph) and a strong need to keep traffic to walking pace near pedestrian zones. A 2-foot rubber bump at a crosswalk or building-entry approach forces traffic to 5 to 10 mph without consuming the pavement footprint a table would.

Private driveways

A homeowner installing a single bump in a driveway uses a 1 to 2-foot rubber unit, anchored with concrete or asphalt anchors. Tables are not residential-driveway-scale.

Apartment-complex entry chokes

An entry choke at the leasing-office side of an apartment complex benefits from a high-impact bump that signals "slow zone now." Mid-drive calming should pivot to a hump or cushion, not stack more bumps.

Cost-constrained calming

Bumps are 90 to 95 percent cheaper than tables per device. For a property owner with $5,000 to spend, a series of 4 to 6 rubber bumps reaches more locations than a single table.

When to Choose a Speed Table

Public residential streets

The 22-foot footprint and the 25-mph design speed match residential-street geometry. A bump on a residential street is unsafe at the typical 25 to 30 mph approach speed -- the vertical pulse risks suspension damage and bottoming out.

Bus routes

Tables are the device of choice for any street carrying TriMet, LTD, Lane Transit, or Cherriots buses. A bump on a bus route is operationally disqualifying.

Pedestrian-priority intersections

A speed table at an intersection becomes a raised pedestrian platform. The plateau supports an ADA-compliant marked crossing under PROWAG (Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines). Bumps cannot serve this purpose.

Architectural / aesthetic streets

Brick-inlay tables in historic neighborhoods work as both calming and visual treatment. Bumps are functional only -- no aesthetic option.

Wide drive-thru or customer-pickup lanes

A table-with-extra-length variant (sometimes 30 ft) holds vehicle position and slows traffic at a drive-thru window. Bumps over-slow without holding position.

What About Streets and Parking Lots Together?

Mixed-use properties (apartment complexes, retail centers, school campuses) often have both a parking environment and a residential-street-grade approach drive. The standard Cojo design pattern:

Bump at the parking-lot entry from the public road
Hump or cushion at mid-drive locations inside the property
Table at the public street if calming is also needed there
Bump at internal pedestrian crossings inside the lot

Stacking different devices for different speed regimes produces better calming than installing 4 of the same device throughout.

Cost Trade-off

Industry Baseline Range

Item	Speed bump	Speed table
Single device install	$200 to $1,500+ (rubber, anchored)	$5,000 to $15,000+ (asphalt or brick)
Series of 3 (same site)	$150 to $1,200+ per	$4,500 to $12,000+ per
Material	Rubber, plastic	Asphalt, brick, concrete
Annual maintenance	$50 to $200+ per device	$300 to $800+ per device

These figures reflect published industry averages. Current market pricing varies significantly and actual quotes may fall well outside these ranges based on site-specific conditions, material costs, and project complexity.

Current Market Reality

The cost-per-device gap is large -- roughly 10 to 30x for tables vs bumps. The decision is rarely cost-driven, however; the right device for the speed environment is almost always the right financial decision because the wrong device produces complaints, vehicle damage liability, or operational issues that exceed the device-cost difference.

Cojo's Salem Drive-Thru Table Install

In April 2026 Cojo installed a 22-foot asphalt speed table on the customer-pickup-lane approach to a storefront crosswalk at a 14,000-sq-ft retail center in South Salem. Pre-install spot speeds in the pickup lane averaged 17 mph; 30-day post-install measurement averaged 8 mph. The table doubled as a raised-crosswalk platform marked per PROWAG. A speed bump in the same location would have over-slowed traffic to a near-stop and caused queue stacking.

Get the Right Device

If you are weighing a table vs a bump for a specific site, send Cojo a site photo and a brief description of the speed environment. We will return a free desk review with a recommended device and a quote within one business day. See the speed tables guide for the table engineering, speed cushions guide for the fire-access alternative, speed bump vs speed hump for the bump-vs-hump decision, speed table installation in Portland for a local example, or asphalt maintenance services for the full install scope.