It should not take three minutes to cross a road
Yet as @DrTCombs shows in this video, many road crossings are designed to make pedestrians wait at least that long before getting a walk signal.
This video shows one such crossing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but there are many more intersections like this across North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
https://urbanists.video/w/8esJ8mPNrRK2vzGekrKVKL
#cycling #pedestrians #walkablecities #walking #urbanism #UrbanPlanning #planning #bike #cycle #cities @fuck_cars @green @urbanism
@DrTCombs @stuart @ajsadauskas @fuck_cars @green “To avoid a (AUD) $52 fine for jaywalking, a pedestrian must be at least 20m from a set of traffic lights or a designated crossing.” - the rules in Queensland, Australia.
(Thanks for reminding me, after seven years living here, to look them up!)
@DrTCombs @stuart @ajsadauskas @fuck_cars @green As a pedestrian, you can also be fined if you cross an existing crossing on a red light signal, even if the countdown gives you enough time to cross safely, I discover. I thought the countdown was the important thing, not the red man. There’s another thing I do quite often then.
@james @DrTCombs @ajsadauskas @fuck_cars @green Wow - that’s pretty authoritarian, like mandating helmets for #cyclists. But is it enforced?
@stuart @james @ajsadauskas @fuck_cars @green my overwhelming hunch is that those fines have nothing to do with pedestrian safety and everything to do with getting the intersection clear so drivers aren’t inconvenienced for a split second.
@DrTCombs @james @ajsadauskas @fuck_cars @green Spot on. It was very evident when they reconfigured #Sydenham’s high street. The consultation was heavy on zebra crossings (pedestrian has priority). What happened The existing one was removed and we have controlled crossings with long lead times.
The justification was it maximised traffic flow essential for TfL buses at a South #London pinch point. Except we have parking bays on both sides when a bus lane would have solved that issue.