[Electronics-talk] Electronics-talk traffic signal app

[Tracy Carcione]

I fought hard to get an audible signal at a T intersection near my house. 
It has made a big difference in my life.  I was literally taking my life
in my hands crossing that street before, trying to guess if there was a
lull in traffic or if I had the light.  Now I know.  I still have to
listen for idiots not stopping at the crosswalk, but at least now I know
when it's probably safe to cross.

There are other crossings, especially in New York City, where I have
trouble hearing the cross-traffic because of ambient noise, like
construction or food-truck generators.  I'd really like some low-cost
thing I could use, when I want or need it, to tell me when I have the walk
sign.  Sighted people know when they've got the Walk; why shouldn't I? 
I'm not relying on it, but it's a very helpful piece of information.
Tracy

> So Chris, you're saying that you don't trust the traffic to stay quiet
> Long enough to get across all lanes?
>
> APS is audio pedestrian signal.
>
> Jim
>
> Written While on the Move
>
>> On Jun 29, 2015, at 5:17 AM, Christopher Chaltain <chaltain at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I'm not Sarah, but I answered this question in a previous post, and I
>> think Sarah answers it in the post you're replying to.
>>
>> As I said earlier, I have two streets I cross, where the cross traffic
>> is very minimal but I need to cross four lanes of traffic, and due to
>> either the traffic light patterns or the lack of any preceding traffic
>> signals, the cars can be traveling quite quickly. I want to make sure I
>> have a full cycle to cross all four lanes, and I can't do that without
>> the cross traffic in these situations. I've also crossed streets late at
>> night, again where the traffic is light, and barely made it across the
>> street before a lone car came speeding by because I wasn't sure I had
>> the full traffic cycle.
>>
>> BTW, what is meant by the acronym APS that you used?
>>
>>> On 06/28/2015 10:41 PM, Jim Barbour via Electronics-talk wrote:
>>> Hey Sarah,
>>>
>>> I hear you that I probably sound like I'm judging.  I do think it is
>>> not a smart thing for blind people to rely on APSs, except in rare
>>> circumstances where the number of points of an intersection are very
>>> high, or some other one off traffic situation.
>>>
>>> Being deaf/blind has been mentioned as a reason to rely more on APSs.
>>> Not knowing much about how those who are dead/blind travel, I
>>> completely respect this option.
>>>
>>> Would you mind answering another question for me? This was asked the
>>> other day, and it still is a question I have. Why do you care if it is
>>> quiet because there's no traffic, or because the signal is in your
>>> favor?  What are the circumstances when you wouldn't just obey the rule
>>> that if it's quiet, you would cross.
>>>
>>> Thanks Very Much,
>>>
>>> Jim
>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 06:53:21PM -0700, Sarah Clark via
>>>> Electronics-talk wrote:
>>>> I am reading a lot of judgmental posts on this topic. It isn't always
>>>> as
>>>> simple as listening to traffic patterns.  Besides the so called
>>>> "silent
>>>> cars" that are becoming more and more prevalent, in Beverly Hills
>>>> where I
>>>> live we have quite a number of intersections where there is a 4 way
>>>> walk
>>>> signal -- meaning that it is time to walk when all is quiet. (also
>>>> allowing
>>>> for diagonal crossings, which I never do). Some of these intersections
>>>> involve 1 or more streets that are not especially busy, so you have no
>>>> way
>>>> of knowing if it is quiet because it is time to cross or because there
>>>> are
>>>> simply no cars coming through at the moment. Crossing some of these
>>>> intersections nearly every day I have learned to judge them based on
>>>> pattern
>>>> of the cycle at that specific intersection (the patterns vary from one
>>>> intersection to another), but depending on the time of day and how
>>>> heavy the
>>>> traffic is, this is not fool proof and I sometimes judge wrong. And
>>>> someone
>>>> unfamiliar with the intersections who needed to cross at off-peak
>>>> times
>>>> would find themselves in a literal guessing game. I've found having a
>>>> guide
>>>> dog invaluable when crossing these intersections, because in the event
>>>> that
>>>> my timing was off and a car didn't give me the right of way once I
>>>> started
>>>> crossing (which they are legally required to do), the dog would see
>>>> the car
>>>> coming and handle the situation accordingly.
>>>>
>>>> Sarah
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Christopher (CJ)
>> chaltain at Gmail
>>
>
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