It has taken 50 years, but New York City is reducing the maximum speed on most of its streets to the limit that existed when Checker cabs were in vogue.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved a bill that would reduce the maximum speed for cars, trucks and taxis on residential streets to 25 miles per hour, from 30 m.p.h. The change will be the subject of a three-week publicity campaign by city officials starting on Monday. The new speed limit will go into effect on Nov. 7.

“This is going to be a culture change all over the city,” said Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner. “It’s something that everyone is going to have to think a little harder about.”

Ms. Trottenberg said the new speed limit would apply to all streets where a maximum speed is not posted. In other places, signs may indicate a higher or lower limit. She said the change would be announced at points of entry to the city and even on receipts for parking meters. The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is informing cabdrivers about the change and the penalties for violations, she said. Trying to slow traffic and eliminate traffic deaths on city streets are major goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero project. The rollback of the default speed limit will come three months after city officials persuaded state lawmakers in Albany to reverse a mandate that dates back a half-century: In 1964, state officials decided that no local speed limit anywhere in the state should be less than 30 m.p.h.