Austin pedestrians will get a head start on dodging traffic at hundreds of crosswalks in the very near future.
Austin traffic signal engineers this summer have been installing hundreds of pedestrian head starts, or leading pedestrian intervals, across the city. Last month they installed them at 640 crossings since the start of June increasing the number of treatments in Austin by 250 percent.
The low-cost treatments adjust traffic signal timing to provide pedestrians a head start to establish themselves in the crosswalk before vehicles get a green light. The signals make pedestrians more visible to turning drivers and improve safety for people who slower to enter the crosswalk. National research shows that leading pedestrian intervals reduce vehicle-pedestrian crashes by 13% at intersections, according to a city press release.
Austin traffic signal engineers used LPIs downtown and in other parts of the city, starting in 2019, but the latest expansion is driven by recent signal software upgrades that allow more easily implemented customized signal phasing at more locations.
As standard practice, new traffic signals and pedestrian hybrid beacons include accessible pedestrian signals, which help people who are blind or have low vision receive information about the walk/don’t walk intervals.
The city is using 2020 Mobility Bond funding to implement the treatments at dozens of existing traffic signals, including locations with existing LPIs.
