Jake Coppinger wants to find the longest time a pedestrian has to wait to cross the road in Sydney, and he needs your help.
Key points:
- Pedestrians are waiting an average of 90 seconds at the lights in Sydney, a researcher has found
- Waiting longer at the lights leads to fewer walkers, a transport expert says
- Transport for NSW charges at least $200 for light timing data of individual intersections
The software engineer has developed the website Better Intersections, which has already revealed that some intersections force people to wait up to 180 seconds to walk across the road.
Mr Coppinger is asking people when they are out and about to use the website to measure the exact time the lights are red, flashing red and green.
On the website, a walker can select the exact intersection they are waiting at.
They can then time how long they are at the lights, and send the report when finished.
Mr Coppinger said forcing pedestrians to wait for long periods at the lights turned people off walking in the city.
“If you have to wait a long time to cross the road, and you’re walking to local shops, you might decide just to drive instead, which is not a great outcome,” Mr Coppinger said.
“Walking and cycling are much more attractive when you don’t have to wait for minutes at a traffic light.”
Mr Coppinger, who represents the interests of cyclists on a City of Sydney traffic committee, said pedestrians were waiting an average of 90 seconds at lights across the city.
“Research suggests that when you have to wait more than 30 seconds, pedestrians are more likely to cross on a red light, which is dangerous,” Mr Coppinger said.
‘The longer you wait, the more annoyed you feel’
University of Sydney transport researcher David Levinson said wait times discouraged walking as a means of getting to places.
“If in 10 minutes I’ve wound up waiting at two intersections or four intersections for a minute each, then I can only go 600 metres in that time instead of a full kilometre,” Professor Levinson said.
“The longer you wait, the more annoyed you feel.”
Professor Levinson said there were a few tweaks that could be made to intersections to make the city more friendly to walkers, such as the pedestrian light turning green before traffic lights did.
“This means pedestrians get a head start and are visible to cars that are making turns,” Professor Levinson said.
“Countdown timers are another good practice that can be done.”
As public as a train timetable
Mr Coppinger wants more people to contribute their wait times to his project to create a complete picture of waiting times across the city.
The project has data on at least 148 intersections so far.
The longest example was at the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Phillip Street in Redfern, which according to one user took 179 seconds.
Two users reported lengthy waits at Station Street East and Parkes Street in Parramatta, one of which was 161 seconds.
“I hope having public data will give advocates an opportunity to help make Sydney a better place to walk and cycle,” Mr Coppinger said.
Data about pedestrian signal times is held by Transport for NSW, but requests cost at least $200 for data about an intersection, and have usage restrictions.
Mr Coppinger compares this to Victoria, which publishes data openly under a creative commons licence.
“I think signal timing data should be as public as a public train network timetable,” Mr Coppinger said.
Transport for NSW’s Active Transport Strategy reports measures such as reduced pedestrian wait times are being rolled out to improve pedestrian priority in areas of high pedestrian activity.
A 2021 study found the average waiting time across nine intersections in Sydney’s CBD was 52 seconds, with one having the longest average wait of 70 seconds.
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