Countdown Ped Starting From Walk

Video shows the issues of a countdown pedestrian signal that starts the countdown from "WALK" instead of flashing "DONT WALK". Compounding the issue is the fact that these signals are fully actuated, with left turn signals.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• traffic
• light
• signal
• ped
• pedestrian
• countdown
• walk
• dont
• crosswalk

[wisecrac99]

Sorry for the poor quality of the on-screen text.

[ss3kidgoku]

at 0:24 the sinals went from 24 seconds to 14 wtf

[PedAdvocate]

Washington, DC, has fixed-length phases for most of their signals, which means that they can start the countdown with the start of the walk signal. I find it very convenient, because I can tell if I should hurry a bit to make the signal 100 feet ahead, or slow down because I am going to miss it. However, countdowns with walk signals with variable length actuated phases can give strange results, which is why the MUTCD now requires that countdowns start with the flashing Don't Walk. Too bad.

[SignalKid]

@Voyage400 the computer will relearn the new time in one or two cycles. You can count during Walk time too, as long as its not set to rest in Walk.

[Voyage400]

@SignalKid I found this out the hard way while trying out a traffic controller I invented. Sometimes the hand would flash 3 times, stop, and flash 7 more times, which messed up the countdown module, but would auto-correct itself afterward.

[wilek209]

You know, there's an intersection over in Quincy, MA that had pedestrian countdown signals installed back around 1997-1998 and they count down when "WALK" begins at 22 seconds, then at 13 seconds the hand begins flashing; it is a fixed length where all signals do it at the same time at a point when all vehicular traffic lights turn red. But I still prefer those kind of signals counting down only when the hand flashes

[ss3kidgoku]

oh ok thanks man :]

[SignalKid]

That is because the controller was in Walk Rest during the Walk phase. And the controller begins the ped clearance (flashing hand) phase with 14 seconds remaining in the time cycle. So the extra minutes of the walk rest was lost causing the jump in time. This is the flaw in counting from walk during rest phasing

[wiley207]

Well I seem to prefer the signals counting down only when the hand flashes. That is how I see most of them anyways.

[wiley207]

(:43-1:13) I actually saw something exactly like that once in Washington D.C. (they recently upgraded to countdown pedestrian signals at nearly all their intersections). There's an intersection in Quincy MA that had one of the first countdown signal setups in the state (around maybe 1999-2001) where they all work in unison during a red light (they start at WALK at :22 seconds, then go to the flashing hand at :13 seconds), and after "1" the timer goes out and the hand just stops flashing.