Re: Pedestrian signal design question

k_flynn@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Phillip Christensen wrote:
Mike Tantillo wrote:
> they use a solid white man, and a flashing orange/solid orange hand.
> Someone who knows alot about MUTCD related stuff says that once
> countdown pedestrian signals become more widespread, they may eliminate
> the flashing hand, and have the man be lit up with the count down, and
> when the countdown hits zero, the solid hand comes on. This way the
> engineers won't have to use a "one size fits all" equation to determine
> when to stop allowing new peds into the intersection, and will allow
> people to make that choice on their own, based on the amount of time
> left.

That's an interesting idea. Let the pedestrian determine if they'll
have enough time to clear the intersection.

I see pedestrians making that decision all the time anyway, crossing
even against the solid hand if there's no traffic coming anyway!

I love those new countdown timers. They replaced almost all of the old
ones downtown in my city, and have started to put them up and other
intersections around town. Its almost as helpful for the drivers as it
is for the pedestrians. When I'm driving, I can tell from a further
distance if I can clear the intersection or not before the red light.

I use them for that purpose too while driving.

Where did that idea originate anyway?


In Albuquerque at least, some countdowns end and the "hand" light comes on perhaps half a minute before the light turns yellow. The idea is to leave enough time for left and right turns to be completed. I don't remember them working that way in Las Vegas NV.

--
Pat O'Connell
[note munged EMail address]
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...
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