it's so pedestrian

it all hit me when walking around in san diego. depending on where you live, the experience of being a pedestrian can be completely different. the difference is mandated by the numbers of pedestrians in each place. in new york, where pedestrians have more power, due to their large numbers, they are given equal billing with automobiles when doing simple things like crossing the street. in san diego, crossing the street involved a process of being required to push a button on the stoplight pole in order to get the hand, which then allowed me to cross the street. this is pretty much the same everywhere outside of any metropolitan area.

i had a further epiphany, here in san francsico when trying to cross 19th avenue. 19th avenue is a notoriously busy street that requires you to push the button and i had just missed getting to the intersection to push the button. i had to wait an entire extra traffic cycle just to cross the street. it happened again, when trying to cross the great highway to get to the boardwalk -- the button was broken and i couldn't even cross the street without being run over.

cars are automatically, through passive sensors, accounted for and influence the traffic cycles for each intersection where there is a stoplight. why can't this be done for pedestrians as well?

the idea is this; on the stoplight sits a sensor that accounts for people waiting underneath it. when a certain number of people are seen to be waiting, or when a small number of people have waiting for the maximum amount of time, the light changes and gives the pedestrians the hand signal.

simple and effective, but it doesn't stop there.

as we've all seen before, there are always older people, of handicapped folks, who take much longer to cross. the contemporary, timed approach embodies discrimination and a possible violation of the american's with disabilities act. if i can't make it across the street in the given amount of time and i'm stuck in the middle of the intersection, when the light has changed and get hit, you can bet i'm gonna sue whatever city is responsible for this.

so, in addition to the sensors that determine if people are waiting, there is a radar system that keeps track of the numbers and speed of people crossing the street. each pole has sensors pointed towards the other poles, determining the position of people in the street. the timed approach would be scrapped entirely. this would benefit both drivers and pedestrians. if i'm a quick walking pedestrian and cross the street really fast, the cars wouldn't need to wait for all that extra time. if i'm older and it takes me more time to cross, i would have that time, enough time to cross and not have to live my life in constant fear.

this system of radar or some kind of sensor could possibly even be used to replace the underground sensors that only detect automobiles and not bicycles as well. i've sat at so many intersections, waiting for the light to change, because bikes don't set off the sensors.

the 20th century tools we are given to do the important things in our lives simply do not work for us. this needs to change.

link | rss | share | posted: 2010-04-30 08:06:52