How long does it take a pedestrian to cross a street? Longer than it used to.
New federal standards being implemented across California will give pedestrians a few extra seconds to get from curb to curb, meaning motorists will face longer red lights — and local agencies will have to pay millions of dollars to upgrade old equipment.
The policy is aimed partly at making the streets safer for an aging population. But it will also slow traffic, especially on wide roads like the Bay Area’s expressways.
Instead of assuming that people on foot can cover four feet per second, the new policy slows the pace to 3.5 feet per second.
That may not seem like a huge difference, but at a 100-foot intersection the change means an extra four seconds of walking time for pedestrians and red lights for drivers. On wider roads like Santa Clara County expressways, El Camino Real from Daly City to the South Bay and Mission Boulevard from Fremont to Hayward, it could be a change of five to eight seconds.
“This is a dancing game where no move is totally right, because it affects another,” said Chris Cochran of the state Office of Traffic Safety. “If you add time for pedestrians to cross, you hold up traffic longer. (But) you may have saved pedestrian lives or serious injuries by allowing more time to cross.”
The federal change was approved last year and is expected to become California policy within two years. San Francisco and San Jose have already made changes at intersections where signals are currently being retired, and Hayward will adjust the signals on Mission when that busy street is upgraded.
The new timing plan may be needed as the state’s population ages and more walkers are slower. While the mileage death rate in California of 1.05 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled is lower than the national average of 1.25, the state’s pedestrian fatality rate of 1.69 is above the national average of 1.44.
“Accommodating pedestrians is good,” said Ananth Prasad, who oversees signal timing along Santa Clara County’s heavily traveled expressway system. “But this change will significantly impact the expressway coordination.”
The additional pedestrian time cannot be accommodated without retiring entire expressways, where it can now take more than three minutes for lights to cycle at the busiest intersections.
For some drivers, the thought of waiting longer at traffic lights is not appealing.
“Red lights are the biggest gripe I have,” said Nancy Wang of San Jose. “I feel I spend half my commute at lights that never seem to turn green.”
In some cities with heavy pedestrian traffic, equipment will need to be replaced to handle this major change.
“That’s our big problem in Palo Alto,” said city transportation planner Jaime Rodriguez. “Our controller is not modern and can’t accommodate (this).”
To handle the pending new rules, Santa Clara County is testing a new signal system at Bascom Avenue and Renova Drive near Valley Medical Center.
Pedestrians will still push a crosswalk button to trigger their light, but sensors located on poles at curbs will then detect how many pedestrians there are and how much time they need to clear the crosswalk.
If walkers are fast, the pace could be as high as four feet per second. If they are older or disabled or just ambling across, it could be slowed to about 2.8 feet per second.
The extra time provided by pedestrian detection in the crosswalk will not be shown on the countdown signal, but the light for cross traffic will remain red until pedestrians clear the crosswalk.
“With this approach,” Prasad said, “the pedestrian timing is only extended when needed rather than extending it every time, with or without pedestrians. Our approach will result in significant time savings.”
But it’s costly. Adding the new system could run from $12,000 to $20,000 per intersection, or about $2 million for the expressways. That doesn’t include maintenance costs.
Any change is good news to Lucy Lam, 35, of Cupertino, who suffers from the autoimmune disease lupus. When her joints swell, her pace slows on her regular walks along Lawrence Expressway.
“I will not cross unless I’m in the crosswalk immediately after the walk signal begins, and I will usually take the entire time allowed to make this crossing,” Lam said. “I could certainly use the extra five to eight seconds to cross and can understand the need to extend the timers for the elderly, disabled and those with small children.”
Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.
