Jim Merryfield

October 28, 2002

Comments on PROWAC:

First on truncated domes and other such surfaces. I looked at the samples on the back table in Portland, and the only areas I have seen them used is next to railroad tracks or the edge of loading docks where the meaning is "Don't go here." So why use the same on crosswalks where the meaning is "Go here." Enough said on that topic.

And then on to audible traffic signals. Locator tones seem totally silly. Spend the money locating the button where it belongs and not making it beep or buzz somewhere behind the bushes. As a sighted person, I may step back a little from whether cookoos and chirpers are any help in knowing when to cross the street safely other than to say I certainly don't depend on Walk-Wait lights, I listen to traffic. I may comment from a driver's perspective though. I live and work near Lynnwood WA, a major suburb of Seattle and they have installed ATS's on all their signalled intersections, most of which are 5 to 7 lanes across. What I do notice is a tremendous number of drivers talking on cell phones and making right turns without paying attention to whether there are any pedestrians, and I have noticed at least occasionally when the driver hears the signal they notice that indeed there is a pedestrian there. So perhaps driver training needs to be the emphasis -- they need to watch for more cues about pedestrians.

And sometimes there just needs to be some common sense in the way of traffic engineering. At the intersection just outside the hotel in Portland all traffic except buses had to turn left, and the cars received the green light at the same time the pedestrians received the walk signal. Pretty stupid! The only way to safely cross that intersection was against the light or in the middle of the block; listening to traffic gave that clue, an ATS certainly would not have.