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| You mean these don't work?! |
You might be thinking, What?! I've been fooled all these years! Well, hate to break it to ya, but it's true. In today's world, computer-controlled traffic signals have made these kinds of pedestrian push buttons pretty much obsolete.
Although most of the push buttons that you see around cities like New York City don't actually work, the Department of Transportation has left them as part of the street landscape to serve as a sort of psychological reprieve for city folks who might think that pushing the button might help speed up their pedestrian journey.
Still, a fair number of push buttons actually do work at street crossings where the "walk" signal might never light up if the buttons aren't pushed, so perhaps it isn't really futile.
Source: 1
Push all the buttons!
ReplyDeleteAs a traffic engineer, I wish people would stop spreading this rumor. The crosswalk buttons are only ignored at intersections with a shared/concurrent pedestrian phase. That is, where the walk signals illuminate at the same time the traffic lights in that direction turn green, so you're walking with the traffic. Shared pedestrian phases are fairly new in the grand scheme of things, and the buttons definitely worked before then. And it costs more to remove them than it does to leave them. At all other intersections (and in most of the rest of the country), the buttons work exactly like they're supposed to. So push the button and wait, rather than assuming it's broken and jaywalking.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteThanks for your comment, and your input! It definitely does cost quite a lot of money to remove these buttons, which is precisely why they're left where they are in most cases. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "rumor", however. In places like New York City, for example, a fairly large portion of these push buttons (around 2,500 out of 3,250 as of 2004) actually don't work. This also appears to be the case in other cities, as well, such as Honolulu, where around 35% of the crosswalk buttons do not work.
Again, thanks for your input!
Yeah, it really makes no sense that someone would pay to purchase and install buttons that don't work. Who is funding this? And why would they care about helping to calm down a frustrated pedestrian? Pushing a button and waiting never calmed me down. Thank YOU traffic engineer!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteYou're absolutely right -- it really doesn't make sense for anyone to actually go out and buy and install these buttons, which is why it doesn't happen these days. Computer-controlled traffic signals have largely made pressing such buttons futile in places with newer traffic systems in place. In cases like New York City's, the Department of Transportation has left these non-working buttons because it would be too costly to remove them (around $300 and $400 per button), but pedestrians continue to press away.
Jeez are you guys daft or you just don't read. It says everything you need to know on the post.
DeleteI think those that don't work are old ones that are just left there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, since when do they even have these in NYC?
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about the push buttons, since at least 1964.
DeletePedestrian push buttons in New York City were once functional. They were introduced throughout the boroughs in the 1960s. At the time, most signalized intersections were semi-actuated. A pedestrian signal only changed from "DONT WALK" to "WALK" upon request. They were okay for a while, but traffic volume in the city significantly increased over the years. New York City simply disconnected many of them in the 1980s, since most signal controllers there were converted from semi-actuated to pre-timed. Although most are inoperable as of present day, there are a handful that are still functional. I am aware of one in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Also, the city continues to install brand new pedestrian push buttons are certain locations throughout the five boroughs. N.Y.C.D.O.T. installed several in Flatbush, Brooklyn in recent years.
ReplyDeleteI live in England and I would like to know if the buttons are fake or not. I've done a bit of research and have found that they do work at certain types of crossing, but I'm not clear on it. I'm pretty sure that some of them do not work because you can stand there for up to 5 minutes after the button has been pressed - although this is on a busy road. At another crossing that was not quite as busy, I seem to remember the button working when I was younger, but not so much now. It could be that the button only works when the road is clear, although that could have been me remembering it wrongly because I probably pressed the button when the light was about to change.
ReplyDelete