[infoshare] After ceremony, mixed signals on new pedestrian safety devices

From: "Luis Guerra" <screenreader@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "InfoShare" <InfoShare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:45:55 -0400
After ceremony, mixed signals on new pedestrian safety devices
BY SCOTT STIFFLER

      Will the installation of this signal at 23rd and Seventh Ave. result 
in less pedestrian accidents and injuries? Photo by Scott Stiffler
Published: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 12:30 PM CDT
The recent installation of Audible Pedestrian Signals at Seventh Avenue and 
23rd Street (mere steps away from Selis Manor, a living facility for the 
blind and visually impaired) has been greeted by locals as a welcome 
addition - with ample room for improvement. But that cautious optimism didn't 
seem to dampen the enthusiasm expressed by Selis Manor residents and other 
neighborhood pedestrians who joined electeds, activists and city officials 
on the morning of September 28 to celebrate the installation of the devices 
at one of Chelsea's busiest intersections.

"New Yorkers want to hear that their streets are getting safer," noted 
Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan - who 
went on to cite crash data from 2005-2009, which identified Seventh Avenue 
and 23rd Street as having more pedestrians killed or seriously injured than 
97 percent of all intersections in Manhattan (21 pedestrians were inured, 
resulting in one fatality).

"This is a great start," proclaimed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in 
reference to the upgrade. "But I can't wait until Commissioner Khan and I 
are at the last one of them." With the audible devices currently fixed to 21 
pedestrian signal poles citywide - and another 25 planned over the next 
year - Quinn may have to wait awhile (there are 12,000 potential sites 
throughout the city).

Citing one minor quality of life concession for a greater good, Sadik-Khan 
noted that the devices are, "loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that 
they're a nuisance to the community." Given the alternative, most would seem 
to prefer the presence of low-volume chirping or buzzing or a spoken word 
instruction that it's safe to cross (those features vary according to the 
particular device installed at any given intersection).

In an October 4 phone conversation with Chelsea Now, Nancy D. Miller 
(Executive Director and CEO of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually 
Impaired) noted that, in general, "I can say the constituents are pleased 
with the results that occurred at Seventh Avenue and 23rd Street. Now that 
doesn't mean blind people are happy about all the bike lanes and the turning 
lanes. These are very difficult for blind pedestrians, because of the way 
they're laid out. You have the sidewalk, then you have to cross a bike lane, 
then you have a median, then your major traffic lanes, then your sidewalk."

Of the different types of signals located in close proximity to Selis Manor, 
Miller notes that both her organization as PASS (Pedestrians for Accessible 
and Safe Streets) have been taking their concerns and observations to the 
DOT. "There are differences of opinion amongst blind people and the 
professionals who serve them, as to what signals are best," says Miller. 
"For a very experienced traveler who is blind, it won't matter. They will 
use the information, whether it's a talking or a beeping signal. Those cues 
can be used by a blind traveler with mobility training." But for a less 
experienced person who is blind and also may have hearing loss, Miller 
cautions, "The fact that the signals are not consistent is a difficulty. The 
feedback we've gotten from tenants who live at Selis Manor as to whether 
they prefer the signal to talk as it does on Sixth or beep as it does on 
Seventh, have been mixed." Some do not find either option useful, she notes, 
because, "It's just more street noise. So what we've said is, 'Please 
contact us in advance so we can be part of the planning process. Make sure 
there are blind individuals and certified mobility instructors who are part 
of the planning group.' " Still, she emphasizes, the very existence of the 
present system in Chelsea is an improvement: "When you have more information 
about how much time you've got before the light changes, that's a positive 
for all pedestrians who are crossing. That's what the [September 28] 
celebration was about."






Copyright © 2011 - Chelsea Now
[infoshare] After ceremony, mixed signals on new pedestrian safety devices

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