Do crosswalk buttons at traffic intersections really work?
They do work but they don’t all work immediately. When you push the button you signal the light control box that you are a ped. ready to cross, but you are just one factor in the overall traffic grid. The whole traffic grid is (supposedly) choreographed to move traffic smoothly and keep vehicle backups from occurring, so don’t expect the whole system to cater to your needs. When the opportunity becomes available (say after a minimum of 40 seconds for traffic) , the light will change and let you cross. This is opposed to the light normally remaining red for 2 minutes, for example. Sometimes it lets you cross a few seconds faster, but sometimes it lets you cross a lot sooner. New lights are programmed to only change when there is a vehicle waiting to enter at a red during off-peak times of the day. In other words, that light is programmed from 11 pm to 5 am to stay red until a car activates the light by stopping at the intersection. If you’re not in a car, that light would never change s
