20110410

Pushing Buttons

Why is it that in Oakland, that if you want to cross a street and you are driving you just pull up and wait, but if you are walking, you have to push a button?

4 comments:

East of Alameda said...

Even worse, most loop detectors which pick up cars at intersections aren't calibrated to properly pick up bicycle wheels. That means a bicyclist will have to go up on to the sidewalk to push the walk button and then go back into the street again. It's a very awkward operation.

There is state legislation requiring all loop detectors to pick up bicycle wheels, but loop detectors already in place are grandfathered in. Only during a major resurfacing project are new loop detectors put in, and even then a lot of DPW's forget to recalibrate the loops.

Anonymous said...

bicyclists stop at stoplights?

John said...

This is something that has bothered me since I started running several years ago. If I miss my opportunity to press the button at the right time in the cycle, I have to wait through several additional traffic light cycles. I often feel like Don Quixote when moaning about this issue to other urban planners and transportation types.
-JStott

Raymond Johnson said...

Anonymous,

Some bicyclists do stop at lights, but they shouldn't. See my post on the Idaho Stop from 2009 Arpil.