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A quick search indicates that a 'puffin crossing' is defined by having smart sensors to detect the presence of pedestrians, rather than a pelican's timer-based

by NamTaf 5y ago

A quick search indicates that a 'puffin crossing' is defined by having smart sensors to detect the presence of pedestrians, rather than a pelican's timer-based system. So you may scurry across the crossing and then sensors immediately clear it for road traffic again. Across multiple sites, this seems to be consistent and it makes no mention of the location of the cross/do not cross indicators. Like I intuitively understand what you're talking about, and have seen them, but many sites don't seem to support that definition edit: I have found one site that describes them as you do: https://www.driving-lessons-kettering.co.uk/driving-tips/different-types-of-pedestrian-crossings/what-is-a-puffin-crossing/ https://www.driving-lessons-kettering.co.uk/driving-tips/dif...

tialaramex 5y ago
Sure, there are a bunch of related tweaks but the others aren't relevant to today's topic (the "Dutch Reach" to encourage car users to look where a bike would be before opening the car door) The motor vehicle light sequence is different too, a Pelican had an extra "flashing amber" step which is because it doesn't know if it's clear, so drivers can proceed if the crossing is obviously clear under flashing amber, a Puffin does not have this step. And the timers work differently, a Pelican with a local timer (e.g. in the middle of a street not attached to a junction) I believe runs its timer when you hit the button, so a 30 second delay means 30 seconds every time you cross, whereas a Puffin has an expiring timer, if the crossing hasn't been used recently (again this won't apply as part of an integrated crossing for a junction) its timer will have run out and it will give pedestrians right of way almost immediately, the timer just prevents excessive spamming if several pedestrians cross in succession. And of course engineers can tweak any of this for a specific application, it's just that some of this stuff is available out of the box and gets re-used. Railway signals are the same, you can buy "off the shelf" a lamp that says RA ("Right Away", a signal platform staff give) or CD ("Close Doors") but if you decide what's needed is definitely a sign that lights up "HN" then you can special order that and the makers will build it custom, you just need to train all your staff how to use it.

by NamTaf 5y ago

tialaramex 5y ago

Sure, there are a bunch of related tweaks but the others aren't relevant to today's topic (the "Dutch Reach" to encourage car users to look where a bike would be before opening the car door) The motor vehicle light sequence is different too, a Pelican had an extra "flashing amber" step which is because it doesn't know if it's clear, so drivers can proceed if the crossing is obviously clear under flashing amber, a Puffin does not have this step. And the timers work differently, a Pelican with a local timer (e.g. in the middle of a street not attached to a junction) I believe runs its timer when you hit the button, so a 30 second delay means 30 seconds every time you cross, whereas a Puffin has an expiring timer, if the crossing hasn't been used recently (again this won't apply as part of an integrated crossing for a junction) its timer will have run out and it will give pedestrians right of way almost immediately, the timer just prevents excessive spamming if several pedestrians cross in succession. And of course engineers can tweak any of this for a specific application, it's just that some of this stuff is available out of the box and gets re-used. Railway signals are the same, you can buy "off the shelf" a lamp that says RA ("Right Away", a signal platform staff give) or CD ("Close Doors") but if you decide what's needed is definitely a sign that lights up "HN" then you can special order that and the makers will build it custom, you just need to train all your staff how to use it.