beg buttons

[mindstalk]

They're so diverse!

Some do nothing, perhaps because they used to but have been disabled.

Some are necessary to get a walk signal, but they put you in your place as a second-class citizen: even if traffic has been streaming continuously, you get to wait another minute or two before you get a grudging 20 seconds to dash across the stroad.

But the one tonight... despite the fact that the light had changed fewer than 30 seconds before, it changed again instantly[1] for me. Pedestrians rule here, man!

Oh, I haven't posted in a while. "here" is currently Albany, California. Or maybe Berkeley, not sure where the borders are.

[1] To be precise, instantly turned yellow.

Comments

Berkeley

[brainwane]

Oh hey Berkeley! Would you like recommendations? I used to live there.

Re: Berkeley

[mindstalk]

Sure, if you want, though I lived in SF for 4 years (20 years ago) and have been around Rockridge and Ashby a lot, this isn't virgin soil for me.

[anna_wing]

Goodness, is that what they're called over there? I've never heard of them having a special term (and such an insulting one, too). They're just "traffic light buttons".

[squirrelitude]

I think it's mostly what people interested in urban planning and walkable cities call them. :-)

Around here, a lot of the buttons here actually have a sign saying "push for audible signal", which I think means that they don't affect the light pattern at all and are just an accessibility aid. (That is, there's always a crossing light in every cycle.)

[mindstalk]

More official names seem to be "pedestrian push buttons" or "crosswalk push buttons".

But among urbanists, yes, "beg buttons". Because they're considered insulting by their existence.