Another win for pedestrian safety: Countdown timers to stay
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Minister for Roads Duncan Gay today announced pedestrian countdown timers would start being installed at select locations across the state.
"The trial is finished, results are in and we'll be installing pedestrian countdown timers at 29 busy intersections where we know these type of timers work best,” Mr Gay said.
The new timers replace the flashing red signal with yellow countdown timers so pedestrians know exactly how much time they have to get across the road, before traffic starts moving.
The $1.5 million program includes a recently completed trial which determined that these type of pedestrian countdown timers work best at intersections where pedestrians are the only people on the road with a green light.
The trial showed pedestrian countdown timers aren’t the answer for every intersection, particularly those with more complicated traffic light phasing.
The program will further investigate the types of timers that can provide benefits at more complex intersections like changing the colour of the countdown timer from orange to red as it runs out of time, or including an image – like a stop hand – next to the timer.
This program puts NSW up there with a long list of countries right across the world using pedestrian countdown timers including New York, Tokyo and Singapore.
“Today’s announcement is in addition to the green on green light phasing changes made earlier this month which will better protect pedestrians from turning vehicles at intersections.
“With 41 pedestrians already killed this year, which is 13 up from last year, we’re pulling out all stops to try and reduce these tragic statistics,” Mr Gay said.
The NSW Government is also investigating other locations in the Sydney CBD that are not at intersections – like those along Martin Place to see if countdown timers will improve pedestrian safety and help people get across the road in these busy areas.
MEDIA: Vanessa Juresic | 0419 618 081