[nagdu] Audible Traffic Signals

Jewel S. herekittykat2 at gmail.com
Tue Mar 30 14:27:56 UTC 2010


I think a button to turn off the APPS would be a great thing, to allow
people who don't want it to turn it off when they want. That sounds
like a reasonable compromise between the people who want APPS and the
people who don't. They would have to make sure the button to turn off
the APPS is clearly marked, to make sure people don't confuse it with
the crosswalk signal, though.

~Jewel

On 3/30/10, Albert J Rizzi <albert at myblindspot.org> wrote:
> I too was a little confused. It seems like we discussed here, that the voice
> would sound off when the button was pushed. It is an option they added to
> the flashing lights to alert drivers to the pedestrian crosswalk. I am not
> sure if they included the blind community in determining effectiveness of
> this particular signage. I found the voice to be odd. There really should be
> a consistent design here so when we as pedestrians travel from one state or
> city to another we are not taken aback when we here a voice over a chirp or
> a fog horn for that matter. wouldn't that just be a hoot. Hearing a fog horn
> while crossing a street. LOL
>
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
> doing it."
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 8:14 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Audible Traffic Signals
>
> Albert, is the Boulder thing an audible signal, or just a reminder to
> pedestrians to use caution when crossing?  It's a bit unclear.  It seems
> to say that they are warned to use caution crossing when they push the
> walk button, which is not an APS.
> Tracy
>
>> I did some research too. In boulder, colorado  the costs are about 1k more
>> then the lights as they are now used. See below. Prices must have come
>> down
>> a bit.
>> Mr. Rizzi, we don't handle that sort of thing, but I Googled your query
>> and
>> came up with a town in Boulder, CO that had just installed what you're
>> talking about. It was much less expensive - go to:
>>
>>
> http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=744
>> 0&Itemid=1206
>>
>> And here I've pasted the text, in case the link doesn't work for you:
>>
>>  Audible Crosswalk Sign
>>
>> The City of Boulder has installed an audible warning message at the
>> crosswalkpedestrian crossing on Baseline Road, just east of Broadway. This
>> crosswalk is the first in the city to combine the flashing pedestrian
>> crossing signs with an audible message. When pedestrians push the
>> crosswalk
>> button, the audible message says, "Use caution when crossing." (mp3 Listen
>> to the actual message) The city is testing the enhancement at one location
>> and will evaluate the usefulness of the audible warning buttons before
>> deciding whether to install buttons at addtional locations.
>>
>> The addition of the audible warning message is the result of a review of
>> the
>> existing 14 flashing pedestrian crossings in the City of Boulder to
>> identify
>> ways to improve safety and awareness for drivers and pedestrians at these
>> crossing treatments.
>>
>> The audible message device, two audible warning buttons and the associated
>> additional control circut adds about $1,000 ot the cost of a flashing
>> pedestrian crossing sign.
>>
>> For more information on the new audible warning message, contact Joe
>> Paulson
>> at (303) 441-3266.
>>
>> Georgia Lambert, MTC Public Information/Outreach Technician
>> 101 8th Street, Oakland, CA  94607
>> 510-817-5787
>>
>>
>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>> CEO/Founder
>> My Blind Spot, Inc.
>> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>> New York, New York  10004
>> www.myblindspot.org
>> PH: 917-553-0347
>> Fax: 212-858-5759
>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
>> doing it."
>>
>>
>> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Steve Johnson
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 7:03 AM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Audible Traffic Signals
>>
>> Just as a bit of clarification on the APS cost, I contacted our County's
>> Transportation Planner who I work with quite closely.  Here is her
>> response:
>> Steve,
>>
>>
>>
>> I got some feedback on the cost of the audible pedestrian crossing
>> signals.
>> The cost highly depends on whether or not electrical is already available.
>> For one signal installed in an area that already has the conduits is
>> around
>> $75,000. It's twice that much if you need to run electrical, but of course
>> that depends on the distance you need to run to connect to the nearest
>> conduit.
>>
>>
>>
>> So it seems to me that the near-worst case scenario is $1,200,000 for 8
>> signals and electrical-not the 73M you were quoted.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jackie Eastwood
>>
>> Transportation  Planner
>>
>> La Crosse Area Planning Committee
>>
>> 400 4th St N, Room 2300
>>
>> La Crosse, WI  54601
>>
>> PH: 608.785.6141
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Albert J Rizzi
>> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 7:46 AM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Audible Traffic Signals
>>
>> Interesting to hear that the levels of volume are adjustable. Would be
>> great
>> in those places where some would think it might disturb the peace and
>> tranquility  of the businesses or passers by in a thread we talked on.
>>
>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>> CEO/Founder
>> My Blind Spot, Inc.
>> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>> New York, New York  10004
>> www.myblindspot.org
>> PH: 917-553-0347
>> Fax: 212-858-5759
>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
>> doing it."
>>
>>
>> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Tracy Carcione
>> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 7:13 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Audible Traffic Signals
>>
>> The audible signal near me is not a chirp, thank Goodness.  My light is
>> one
>> where the pedestrian has to push a button to activate the walk sign.
>> When the walk signal starts, a voice says "walk sign is on for all
>> crossings".  The voice repeats as long as the walk sign is on, about 2 and
>> a
>> half times.  I think when the voice stops, the walk sign is flashing to
>> show
>> you don't have a lot of time left to cross.
>> I think, if it were a 4-way stop, the voice would indicate which street
>> had
>> the walk sign.
>> To me, it's much clearer than the chirp, and less piercing.  We had to get
>> the traffic engineers back to tone it down a bit, since they'd put it in
>> at
>> full blast and it was too loud.  Now they turned it down a lot, and it's
>> good.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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