Accessible Pedestrian Signals: The Effect of Push-Button Location and Audible “Walk” Indications on Pedestrian Behavior

Push-button–integrated accessible pedestrian signals (APSs) provide audible information from the push-button housing on both the location of the push button and the onset of walk intervals. APS systems must provide clear, unambiguous information on which crosswalk has the walk interval. Push buttons in the United States, including push-button– integrated APSs, are inconsistently located, and APSs do not use consistent sounds to convey the “Walk” indication. The present research (NCHRP Project 3-62) investigated the effects of push-button placement and the type of audible “Walk” indication on visually or cognitively impaired participants’ ability to determine which of two streets had the “Walk” signal. Participants performed this task most quickly and most accurately when each push-button–integrated APS was mounted on its own pole, the poles were placed along the outer line (farthest from the center of the intersection) of the associated crosswalk, each pole was located within a few feet of the curb, and the audible “Walk” indication from each APS was a fast tick (percussive sound) at 10 repetitions per second. The results further indicate that where two push buttons are installed on a single pole, verbal “Walk” messages (e.g., “Seventh; walk sign is on to cross Seventh”) result in greater accuracy than two different sounds (fast tick and cuckoo) to signal the two crossings.