Graham At a correctly operating Puffin the correct sequence of operation should be: 1) confronted with a constant flow of slow moving traffic, pedestrian presses button 2) pedestrian sees gap in traffic 3) pedestrian crosses road 4) sensors detect pedestrian has crossed in the gap and cancels the demand. A well set up Puffin will assist pedestrians and traffic reducing delay for both by cancelling unnecessary pedestrian demands and only giving to pedestrians the time they need - in many situations with lower pedestrian flows and reasonable walking speeds this will result in a reduction of pedestrian crossing time. A badly set up Puffin can increase delay and frustration for drivers and pedestrians and it seems this is what you are describing. Getting a Puffin to work well takes a little effort but the results are well worthwhile as a more and more authorities are confirming. DfT project UG336 is seeking to quantify the potential benefits of Puffins at a number of sites and this information will be issued by DfT as soon as possible, Also any idea what maximum green times are running at this site? Ian Routledge ----- Original Message ----- From: "Graham Jones" <GWJones@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <tcug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 10:25 AM Subject: [TCUG] Wacky Ideas - Isolated Ped Crossings Has anyone investigated delays associated with the operation of isolated ped crossings Outside my old Plymouth office there is a newly installed puffin serving relatively few peds, say 1 per minute. Invariably, the practical operation goes something like this. 1) Confronted with a constant flow of slow moving traffic, ped presses button 2) traffic continues to roll 3) peds get very impatient 4) ped sees gap in traffic 5) ped crosses road 6) sensors detect gap in traffic. 7) signals turn red 8) traffic stopped at empty crossing OK this particular crossing is particularly badly programmed, but I know of similar sites which please neither peds nor drivers. Accepting that there are UTC issues, I wonder if stopping traffic on ped demand would not result in a net reduction in overall delay. I have not done my sums but leaving aside pedestrian delay, it seems a choice between delaying a few free flowing vehicles or more slow moving ones, which soon make up the lost ground. Anyone done any work on this. Graham Jones Traffic Analyst - Somerset County Council Tel 01823 358235 This communication is intended solely for the person (s) or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain privileged and confidential information and if you are not the intended recipient (s), you must not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender and copy the message to ICTDHelp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Individuals are advised that by replying to, or sending an e-mail message to Somerset County Council, you accept that you have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy. In line with the Surveillance and Monitoring Policy, any e-mail messages (and attachments) transmitted over the Council's network may be subject to scrutiny. ----------------------------------------------------------- A message from the TCUG mailing list. For information about the list visit //www.freelists.org/webpage/tcug ----------------------------------------------------------- A message from the TCUG mailing list. For information about the list visit //www.freelists.org/webpage/tcug