Signals
 Almost all intersections
with traffic lights include a separate pedestrian signal, with a
red "hand" symbol and a white "walk" symbol
(a pictogram depicting a person walking). The cycle is as
follows:
- walk symbol lit up - indicates it is alright to cross
- hand symbol flashing - indicates it is forbidden to start
crossing, but it is alright to finish crossing
- hand symbol lit up - indicates the crosswalk should be
unoccupied.
Pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk, and it is
illegal for cyclists to ride in a crosswalk.
Note that a flashing green signal does not mean the same thing
in British Columbia as it means in most other places. In B.C. it
simply means that the light is "pedestrian controlled";
in other words, it only changes from flashing green after a
button is pressed. These "pedestrian controlled" lights
exist both at and outside road intersections. At a road
intersection the crossing traffic does not have a signal - it has
a stop sign. Thus, if you are driving a car towards a flashing
green light you can expect to see vehicles crossing in front of
you.
Why pedestrian signals are mostly ignored
In the City of Vancouver the walk signal is displayed when it
is legal to walk, whether the pedestrian crossing button has been
pressed or not. In all other areas that the author is aware the
usual behaviour is for the walk signal to not be displayed unless
the pedestrian crossing button has been pressed before the
start of the green cycle. The author can think of no good
reason for this in most cases (there are exceptions where, for
example, a shorter green cycle can be provided if there are no
pedestrians waiting to cross), and has had unsuccessful
discussions with the Burnaby engineering department on this
topic.
One of the results of not automatically displaying the walk
signal, it seems, is that people ignore the pedestrian signals
and just go by the same light the cars go by. This,
unfortunately, causes confusion at some intersections in downtown
Vancouver, because the walk signal in some cases is deliberately
delayed in order to allow advance right turns (or left turns one
way to one way) for vehicles.
Of course, letting vehicles go first implies they have the
priority - in some locations (for example, Montreal) the
pedestrian signal always comes on with the straight-ahead green
arrow, then the pedestrian red signal comes on, then the right
turn signal for vehicles appears.
Pedestrians cross on other side
  Numerous locations exist where preference
has been given to vehicles over pedestrians. Sometimes crossing
is forbidden altogether, sometimes it is only allowed on the side
which does not interfere with an advanced left turn signal for
vehicles.
In many locations the legally expected behaviour of
pedestrians, then, is that they cross 3 times at the same
intersection, often causing a delay of over two minutes.
Long response times and indifferent installations
Many pedestrian controlled lights exhibit long response times.
Traffic engineers will often claim that this is necessary in
order to co-ordinate signals along a street. There are many
times, however, in which this justification does not stand
scrutiny, and it is only the extremely law-abiding citizen who
will wait 30 seconds for a walk signal when there is no crossing
car traffic!
Some locations have the pedestrian crossing button mounted on
the wrong side of the pole (away from the sidewalk), in effect
hidden away from the pedestrian.
Creepy drivers
Another problem for pedestrians is car drivers stopped at red
lights who seem to believe that they will get to their
destination faster by allowing their automatic transmission
equipped cars to creep towards an intersection and block the
pedestrian crosswalk. For some reason this seems to be more
common in locations where pedestrians are comparatively rare..
Inadequately marked and dangerous crosswalks
A pedestrian crosswalk is a marked crossing where pedestrians
have the right of way and vehicles are expected to stop when the
crosswalk is occupied.
In practice, only assertive people have the right of way in
marked crosswalks. Most crosswalks are almost hidden, being
marked only by standard sized road signs on each side of the
road. These signs are very easy to miss seeing when driving on a
wide road, especially one with parking on each side. It is also
difficult to see a crosswalk at night, since there is no special
lighting (with a few exceptions).
Furthermore, it is quite common to see cars passing other cars
stopped at a crosswalk, often due to the passing car driver not
knowing why the other car is stopped and not being able to see
the pedestrian or the pedestrian crossing, aside from two white
lines on the road. Passing a car stopped at a crosswalk is
illegal, of course, but is extremely common and is likely the
cause of many pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
The author once stopped for a pedestrian when driving on (6
lane) Granville Street in Vancouver. Literally tens of cars
passed by in other lanes, at speeds of 60 to 80 km/h (observed
typical speeds on Granville), while the pedestrian waited.
Eventually she gave up, and I went on my way. It was probably
wise, although unfair, for the pedestrian to give up - the author
has seen three cases of pedestrians struck at crosswalks on major
arterials in one year.
Solutions to these problems exist - in Toronto, for example,
crosswalks are marked by
- signs well ahead of the crosswalk
- solid lines between lanes indicating it is illegal to
change lanes near the crosswalk
- a large overhead lit sign that says CROSSWALK and
which also lights up the crosswalk itself, making
pedestrians quite visible
- at some crossings, pedestrian controlled flashing yellow
lights
Pedestrians are also advised to hold their arm out straight
and point straight ahead to indicate they wish to cross - this
allows drivers to differentiate between pedestrians just standing
on the sidewalk and those wishing to cross.
A different way of looking at pedestrian crossings
The whole idea of a pedestrian crossing is that pedestrians
have the right of way. This is easy to write as a law, but very
difficult to implement practically.
If you are willing to rethink some basic assumptions, however,
a different answer may come to mind. If you look at pedestrian
crossings you will note that there is a change of grade for the
pedestrian - the pedestrian is "stepping off the curb"
and "crossing the road". Why not, instead, suppose that
the vehicles are crossing the sidewalk? Why not make the road
users change grades? In other words, continue the sidewalk across
the road and provide "ramps" on both sides for the
vehicles on the road. This could be designed to be gentle enough
to allow passage at reasonable speeds, but the noticeable
"speed bump" effect would cause motorists to recognize
that there is a pedestrian crossing there - next time they will
look.
James Strickland
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