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I can't answer your question but I can at least confirm the tech exists! They do exactly what you're proposing here in the UK (at least, the ones that have bee
by corobo 3y ago
I can't answer your question but I can at least confirm the tech exists!
They do exactly what you're proposing here in the UK (at least, the ones that have been recently upgraded in the town I live do) - if there's no cars around it'll instantly cycle the road lights to red (via amber) and then the pedestrian crossing goes green. Pretty much inside the 3 seconds requested too.
Even the ones with multiple directions. No cars? Ped can go as soon as the road lights are red.
The traffic light system before these upgrades was locked into the same cycle you describe - pressing the button would just add a "pedestrians can go now" phase into the normal light pattern.
Having said all that if there's no cars around I'll just cross the road without interacting with the traffic lights at all lol
- globular-toast 3y agoIt shouldn't matter whether cars are present or not. Why doesn't it just go red to let the pedestrian cross immediately? Obviously with some min interval to stop abuse. There's a particularly bad one at a busy foot and cycle path near me. It takes a minute to cross after pressing at all times. I know it's done to ease congestion on the busy road but that's wrong. Congestion should be allowed but only the participants (car users) subjected to it. Otherwise it's just making cars more enjoyable at everyone else's expense.
- julian_t 3y agoI wish my local council would use this. Here on my High Street in South London, my nearest pedestian crossing can take up to two minutes to change, even when there are no cars close. It's frustrating for pedestrians (and motorists, when someone has pressed the button, got fed up, dashed through the moving traffic, and then when the lights do go red there's no-one waiting to cross)
- corobo 3y agoSomething I do like about these new lights is that if you do press the button then go out of the crossing area it'll unset the button pressed status (assuming there's nobody else in the crossing areas covered by the light system ofc) I usually encounter this when a line of cars go through their green and I dash across behind them quick enough for it to unset and not disrupt the normal light cycles. It's a daft little thing but it feels so darn efficient to get across without interrupting traffic, haha
- AlecSchueler 3y agoYeah, the wait can be dangerous too. I grew up in Northern Ireland where the systems are quite simple. For some years I lived in the Netherlands and got used to smart systems that would give me instant green if I could cross etc. But then I returned myself home for a while and was shocked with how often I was waiting, to the point that after a few days I started treating some traffic light systems as optional or to be avoided while crossing elsewhere on the road. The result of the poor system meant I was crossing without any system.
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