London is to get its first ‘Countdown’ timers, which will help people know how long they have to cross the road. These are different to the Countdown describers at bus stops, which confusingly have the same name.
TfL claim these timers will help keep the traffic moving, and would cause fewer accidents. A total of 1,055 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured on London’s roads in 2009 – a reduction of 52 per cent compared to the mid to late 1990s.
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, has indicated that the trial of the technology will take place at eight locations around London:
- Blackfriars Road, outside Southwark station, junction with Union Street and The Cut
- Balham High Road, outside Balham Station, junction with Chestnut Grove and Balham Station Road
- A306 Roehampton Lane, junction with the Queen Mary’s Hospital access road
- Oxford Circus, junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street
- High Holborn, outside Holborn station, junction with Kingsway and Southampton Row
- The junction of Finsbury Square, Finsbury Pavement and Chiswell Street in Broadgate EC1
- Tower Bridge Road, junction with Tooley Street, near City Hall
- Old Kent Road at the junction of Surrey Square in Walworth SE17
This trial follows on from a research study last October conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory into traffic light timings. Amongst other things, that study looked at whether TfL could reduce more of its traffic lights to the DfT minimum timing of 6.5 seconds for the green man, rather than 10 and whether that would have an impact on safety.
These new digital displays will show pedestrians exactly how long they have to cross the road from when the green man goes out, and until the red man appears, the period often referred to as the ‘blackout’. When asked, about 60% of passengers indicated that they were not aware of the blackout, which can be up to ten seconds long. TfL also claim that research has shown that people do not know how long they have to cross the road, and the new Countdown system is intended to rectify that.
There has been some controversy about blackout timings in London before. Back in April 2009 Caroline Pidgeon’s office detailed 472 crossings in London that had a shorter blackout than the required minimum. Numbers aren’t currently available as to how many of those have since been re-timed, although the list (and anticipated dates) can be found here.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘I want to make London an easier place for everyone to get around whether they are on foot or on wheels.
‘This technology already works well in other cities around the world [e.g. Hong Kong, where they are proved to be extremely useful] and by bringing it to London’s streets is just one of the ways we are continuing to improve the experience of travelling around the Capital.
‘We hope this will make London safer for all concerned and smooth the flow of traffic to help keep London, and its inhabitants, moving.’
56% of pedestrians felt that they were safe while crossing a busy road in London, and 88% were more confident crossing the road with the Countdown timers.
These new timers will be installed towards the end of June 2010, and the trial will last eighteen months.
To help promote the new timers, a full-scale model has been installed at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.
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