July 5, 2009
Countdown walk signals in NYC? Fughetaboutit
New Yorkers apparently don't need a timer to cross the street. Or do they?
Countdown signals at busy intersections are used in San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, and a number of other cities, but don't expect them to take over New York anytime soon.
First installed in late 2006 at Avenue of the Americas and 8th Street in Manhattan and at four intersections in the other boroughs, so far there's no clear evidence that countdown signals improve safety over the current red hand/white hand signals, Department of Transportation officials said.
"We're always looking for new ways to make our streets safer, and we're very interested to see if countdown signals can move us further in that direction," said Seth Solomonow, a DOT spokesman.
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Cassandra Womack, 39, pushed her 2-year-old baby Lance across Sixth Avenue and reached the curb on the other side without ever noticing the timer start counting down from 21.
"Who notices it?" the Brooklynite said when the clock was pointed out. "This is New York City. People pay attention to the cars."
The test program was expanded in late in 2007 to larger swaths of busy locations such as Brooklyn's 86th Street between 3rd to 5th Avenues and East 14th Street, between Fifth and Third avenues in Manhattan.
The countdown signals didn't seem to be operating along East 14th Street Tuesday, but after crossing at Third Avenue, Marian Hargett, 27, of Brooklyn, said it would make her more cautious to see a countdown instead of a blinking hand.
"You never know when it's going to stop," said Hargett, a Con Ed employee from Brooklyn.
"Maybe I've only got two more blinks. If you see you've got three seconds I would wait."
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