There is a traffic problem in our country, especially in big cities. This situation, which is largely due to the crowdedness of cities, can naturally cause both pedestrians and drivers to lose time. Considering that the pace of life in these cities is fast, this is a very serious problem.
Aside from the congestion of vehicle traffic, it can be annoying to have to wait for a long time for vehicles while on foot. When it comes to this point, we now come across pedestrian buttons that make it possible for us to cross the street more safely. So do these really work? Let’s explain it in the clearest way.
Don’t think of them as machines to set up traffic lights, they’re all monitored 24/7:
Let’s take a look at Istanbul in this regard. In our city in question, the IMM Traffic Control Center can control the traffic 24/7 and interfere with the lights. The remote control and systematic operation of these lights is also called signaling. There are more than 2000 signaling systems throughout Istanbul.
Thanks to the sensors under the asphalt and above the lights, these can both automatically adjust the duration of the traffic lights and can be controlled manually from one place.
So there is a more advanced system behind the traffic lights than we thought. So what role do pedestrian buttons play here?
Here, things change according to where you are, or rather, how the traffic is generally in your location. Again, if we go via Istanbul, we know that both pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the city in question is quite intense. Several factors come into play, as devices cannot signal late to both at the same time.
What are these factors?
Here, it is clear for whom the lights will be on, according to the demand to a large extent. Apart from this, factors such as what time of day you are, traffic density and accident status are also taken into consideration. In the morning and at noon, you can see that the buttons do not work very well in reducing the light time, as the vehicles are busy here.
But if you go to the same place at night, you may notice that the buttons are more functional. In the morning, the lights are adjusted to relieve the vehicle accumulation on which side of the intersection is mostly. If there is too much density, as we said, the pedestrian button may become dysfunctional.
This doesn’t happen all at once:
The density at certain intersections in the city can be predicted to a large extent unless there are situations such as accidents. For this reason, it is roughly assumed that there is a traffic volume in these places. According to the information we got from the website of the Transportation Management Center (UYS), there are 6 different signal plans used at different times of the day for an average day in these fixed-term lights located at the intersections in the city.
In other words, since the traffic volume of these places is certain, the pedestrian button does not show the functionality you want in the morning hours.
Have you ever seen places where the red light is not lit on vehicles despite these buttons?
Pedestrian traffic in these places is very small. For this reason, there is not much demand for transition, so the algorithm gives priority to the fluency of vehicle traffic. However, if these lights are used at a certain level, it is understood that there is a demand for pedestrians and vehicles are stopped at those lights. In other words, whether vehicle traffic or pedestrian traffic is heavy in certain areas is detected through these buttons, then priority is given to the fluency of either of them according to demand.
As a result, vehicles do not have to wait even though there are no pedestrians who want to pass, the system is only active if the pedestrians use the button.
Use it anyway and remember that this is for the convenience of disabled citizens when you are disturbed by the sound of the devices:
As we said, although the button in question does not allow you to cross at that moment in busy areas, it will also allow pedestrians to be given time with different requests. In areas where pedestrian traffic is low, it is necessary to press the button as the vehicles are almost always green, but it does not hurt to use the button at busy intersections.
You can share your thoughts in the comment section.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
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