When a Toucan is a GNAT in disguise - Ped crossing signals not set up correctly.

This 'far-side' Toucan road crossing has a serious problem.

That is when it is activated by pedestrians who wish to cross the road it takes a seeming eternity to change back to allow road traffic to continue their journey.

Indeed the delay is so long that from a road user's point of view it would be more aptly named as a GNAT (general nuisance all traffic) - this being a term which also follows the British liking for naming - most types of - pedestrian crossings after animals.

The root cause of the problem seems to be that the 'variable clearance' period which detects when pedestrians are crossing is not working... so it defaults to holding up traffic flow by staying on red for the maximum permitted time after the pedestrians have crossed, in the process needlessly adding to traffic congestion, air pollution, etc.

This also aggravates vehicle drivers, this being something that ultimately can be seen as a contributory factor in 'road rage'. This is what makes them GNAT's!

Either that or it has been incorrectly set-up! - in which case it can be assumed that there are a LOT of poorly trained signal installation engineers who desperately need retraining - and should not be allowed to continue working until this has been accomplished.

This video is at least 24 seconds longer than it should be - because on each of these activations the lights take a whopping 10 seconds to change back to letting the traffic pass. Surely 3 seconds is more than ample?

The location is the A12 westbound on the approach to Redbridge roundabout, next to the junction with Evanston Gardens.

However there are many other locations where the same problem occurs. A few are discussed in the comments, below... These mostly seem to be the 'far-side' type of crossing where the pedestrian indicators are on the opposite footpath.

It would be better if these crossings retained the flashing amber phase, as with Pelican and former X-Way & Panda crossings.

This video was taken on a Sunday - I pass through here on most mornings and these signals are a direct cause of traffic congestion. OK, there is also congestion leading up to the roundabout but the traffic still flows much more freely on days when these lights do not work.

Another issue is that they always change in favour of pedestrians *very quickly* after the call button has been pressed. This in itself is not a problem, except that if the button is pressed (by more arriving pedestrians) towards the end of an activation cycle they will change back in favour of the pedestrians almost immediately. This means that barely 3 vehicles (per lane) get to pass them - which in most extreme instances (eg: morning rush hour) can and does result in the entire section in front of them as far as Redbridge roundabout being empty, whilst behind them the queue almost reaches Gants Hill roundabout.

In the evenings the same happens on the eastbound carriageway, with traffic sometimes tailing back to and even partially blocking the roundabout.

Of course as a pedestrian the very rare 'instant change' feature is most welcome which has never been seen elsewhere!

ps, video was taken with camera settings slightly different, which explains why the levels of brightness vary.

Creative commons footage, can be used by anyone.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• toucan
• crossing
• pedestrian
• nuisance
• time-theft
• cause
• traffic
• light
• signal
• congestion
• delay
• road
• rage
• anger
• danger
• panda
• puffin
• pelican
• x-way
• Driving
• Angry
• traffic light
• traffic signal

[Cliffjumper24]

It could be that the ground loop (the vehicle detection wire hidden in the road surface) has failed... as a result, the system will shift to a failsafe of maximum safety timing.

Report it to the authority responcible.

[citytransportinfo]

@Cliffjumper24 Thanks.I did report it but nothing was done. Hence the video.

TfL (Transport / trafficjams For London) are law unto themselves and seem to like doing things in ways designed to isbenefit people who travel on rubber tyred transports.

[citytransportinfo]

Earlier today I met some TfL people who were at an exhibition about installing traffic signals at the nearby Gants Hill roundabout.

What took me aback is that there was someone else there commenting on these lights at the same time that I was about to comment on them

No-one is suggesting that these lights should go - only that they should be made to work properly!

Simon

ps, I did not see them taking any notes - I hope that their listening to local people was more than just cosmetic.

[downfader2]

Hi there, a possible reason for the lights taking so long may in fact be down to the local inhabitants - if they are elderly there may have been some "sway" put in to allow them extra time to cross.

At the end of the day you have to remember the traffic is only being held up for seconds, not hours. If traffic flow was a real problem the local council would have considered a bridge imo.

[citytransportinfo]

Hi There,

Thanks for your suggestions, but no.

These crossings already have a 'variable delay feature' which detects pedestrians who walk slowly and gives them extra time.

So its not this.

(see next message)

[citytransportinfo]

(Continued)

This road is controlled by TfL, who (under mayor Livingstone) were in favour of delaying traffic and even admitted to using traffic signals to do this. In Hendon they tried to remove an existing bridge over the North Circular Road so that people could cross the road 'at street level' but the local people successfully fought against this proposal.

Therefore the chances of them installing a bridge here are best regarded as 'zero'.

Simon

[downfader2]

Mind you, I can understand why they dont install bridges thesedays - the sheer expense being one, and little toerags lobbing off rocks at traffic being another.

Sounds like a review on the traffic flow is needed (perhaps one is already on the cards - these things take a while as theres never the staff to do it)

If TfL cant help you and other drivers need to contact the council directly - they'll probably just ignore one or two letters/emails though tbh. Good luck!

[citytransportinfo]

As a contrast the new Toucan crossing in Cranbrook Road (north of Gants Hill - near the library) takes forever & a day to change, which is equally inequitable. I used them last Sunday & found the wait was so long that most pedestrians were able to cross in a gap in the traffic before they changed, & then the 'auto-cancellation' feature was invoked so that they did not change at all. A lady who lives nearby said that she thought the lights were cosmetic, as she had never seen them actually work!

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks for your comments. I favour treating people equally...

It seems that at this crossing the lights only change quickly when there is slow moving traffic and if 'called' by a pedestrian towards the end of a previous cycle.

(see next message - too long to add here)

[cig1705]

Fair points about the failure of pedestrian detection and consequent delays to traffic. However, I think all such crossings should give pedestrian priority by changing quickly in their favour. This is unusual, as it is entrenched in conventional transport planning that pedestrians (and cyclists) have a lower value of time than motorists - in other words delaying them is less costly to society and the economy. Thankfully attitudes to walking and cycling are slowly changing.