I remember reading an article about how a certain set of traffic lights (I think in New York City) were left on entirely automatic cycling - at least on Shabbat

I remember reading an article about how a certain set of traffic lights (I think in New York City) were left on entirely automatic cycling - at least on Shabbat for the Orthodox Jewish community. I can't find the article anymore. The disabled button thing is a pretty well known secret. It's not always true - plenty of elevators and crosswalks do have functioning buttons. Since we have no way of knowing which is which, it seems a better choice cost to press the button and maybe get a reward than to stand there and not do anything and get punished. I've certainly sat at crosswalks not pressing the button and the light not changing - until right after I pressed the button. It makes you feel like a fool, and nobody likes feeling like a fool. Ideally I'd like to see the signs and buttons removed, but it's a waste of money. Better to have a bunch of people being fools than paying that much per button just to remove it...