UK Crossings 06 Panda

The panda crossing was a type of signal-controlled pedestrian crossing used in the UK 1962-1967. In the early sixties the British MoT, headed by Ernest Marples, was looking for a way to make pedestrian crossings safer under increasingly heavy traffic conditions. The successful zebra crossing design was not considered safe enough for busy roads and could create traffic delays as pedestrians crossed whenever they wanted. Off-the-shelf light-controlled systems were available but were too expensive for widespread use. Some cities had innovated their own one-off crossings but the lack of standardisation was considered a safety issue. Furthermore, all existing signalled crossings tended to have two major drawbacks: stopping traffic for long periods of time and violating contemporary right-of-way law by signalling "Don't cross" to pedestrians.

The panda crossing was introduced in 1962 as an attempt to combine the best features of available and experimental crossing systems. The first public example was opened on April 2, 1962 outside Waterloo Station in London. The majority of the initial sites used for this experiment were in Guildford where all 13 existing crossings were converted, and in Lincoln where 10 crossings were converted. Further sites across England and Wales increased the size of the experiment to more than 40 sites in all.The Panda's distinctive two-light signal head with striped Belisha beacon (the "STOP" text on the red light persisted through to early Pelican crossings).
The layout was superficially similar to a traditional zebra crossing, with a painted area on the road announced by Belisha beacons. For distinction, the panda road pattern was different (triangles rather than stripes) and the beacons were striped, not plain. The main additions were the light signals on the beacon poles. The traffic signals consisted of a pair of lamps, red and amber, while the pedestrians had a single signal displaying the word "Cross" when appropriate.
In the idle state, all the crossing's lights were off. A pedestrian wanting to cross would press a button on the beacon pole and be instructed to wait by an illuminated sign near the button. The system allowed for a pause between crossings in order to avoid traffic delays and so the pedestrian might wait a short while before anything happened. The amber traffic light would pulsate for a few seconds to inform motorists that someone was about to cross; a pulsating red light was then the signal to stop. At this point, the pedestrians' "Cross" signal began to flash. After a few seconds, the "Cross" light started to flash faster and the pulsating red traffic light was changed to a flashing amber (this "flashing" phase was considered distinct from the initial "pulsating" amber light). The "Cross" light flashed increasingly fast as crossing time ran out, and the traffic was allowed to proceed during the flashing amber phase if the crossing was clear. Eventually, the "Cross" light and the amber switched off completely and the crossing was reset.

The panda crossing avoided legal problems by omitting any sort of "Don't cross" message to pedestrians. The measured pause between crossings helped to keep traffic flowing. The light sequence also prevented long delays by allowing traffic to move after a few seconds if nobody was crossing. However, despite its apparent rationality, the design was not a success. In particular, the distinction between the flashing and pulsating amber phases was subtle yet highly significant and there was no clear "Go" signal at the end of the sequence.

By 1967 the panda crossing was a matter of concern for the Ministry of Transport, and so a new type of crossing, the X-way, was introduced. Surprisingly, the new system was not phased in gradually by replacement, rather the pandas were removed seemingly as a matter of urgency. The X-way itself soon disappeared when, in 1969, the modern Pelican crossing was introduced.

Video here.

UK Crossings 05 Pegasus

As this gripping series continues we turn our attention to a pegasus crossing or, more prosaically, an equestrian crossing. This is a type of signalised pedestrian crossing in the UK. It has a special consideration for horse riders. The name is from the mythical winged horse, the Pegasus.
Normally, they are in the form of a pelican crossing (see past posts) but simply have two control panels, one at the normal height for pedestrians or dismounted riders, and one two metres above the ground for the use of mounted riders, and the "green man" and "red man" pictograms are replaced with horses. Additional features include a wooden safety fence and a wider crossing so that the horses are further away from cars than normal.
If the crossing is to be used by pedestrians and cyclists too, then a parallel toucan crossing is placed next to the pegasus crossing.

I must confess I've never seen one of these things but then I don't live in quite the right place I guess.

UK Crossings 04 Toucan

Yet another type of pedestrian crossing in the UK is the toucan crossing. This one allows bicycles to be ridden across a well as providing for pedestrians. Since two-can, both pedestrians and cyclists, cross together, the name toucan was chosen. (Nothing like a good pun, eh?)Toucan crossings are normally 4 metres (13 feet) wide, instead of the 2.8 metre (9 feet) width of a pelican crossing or puffin crossing (covered earlier). A "green bicycle" is displayed next to the "green man" when cyclists and pedestrians are permitted to cross. As well as this, it is different from a pelican crossing because, before the lights for vehicles go back to green, a steady red and amber are displayed instead of the flashing amber seen on pelican crossings.The pedestrian/cyclist signal lights may be on the near side of the crossing (like a puffin crossing), or on the opposite side of the road (like a pelican crossing).

Signalled cycle-only crossings exist, linking cycle tracks on opposite sides of the road. You may ride across, but you MUST NOT cross until the green cycle symbol is showing.

UK Crossings 03 Puffin

(Mostly cribbed from Wikipedia)

A puffin crossing (pedestrian user-friendly intelligent) is a type of pedestrian crossing used in the UK. it is basically a refined version of the pelican.
It differs from a pelican crossing (see previous article) in that the lights controlling the pedestrians are on the near side of the road, rather than on the opposite side. The system also utilises sensors which detect the presence of pedestrians waiting at the crossing, and as they are crossing the road.
The crossing control lights, which inform the pedestrian when they may cross, are positioned at the road side, set diagonally to the road edge. The stated reason for this design was to allow the pedestrian to monitor passing traffic while waiting for the signal to cross. However the act of monitoring passing traffic often means the crossing control lights are out of the pedestrian's field of vision. The crossing control lights of the older Pelican and Toucan (see later) designs are mounted across the road from the pedestrian attempting to cross, resulting in them staying within the pedestrian's field of view for a greater proportion of the time. A second stated reason for the design was that having the lights closer to the user would assist visually people who could have difficulty viewing the signal from across the carriageway. The Pelican and Toucan designs also feature visual cues close to the pedestrian informing when the pedestrian may cross, in the form of the display mounted above the button pressed to activate the crossing. This claimed advantage is thus much less than it would initially appear.
In addition to the positioning of the crossing control lights, some push-button units are also fitted with a tactile knob under the unit which rotates when the user may cross. This feature is also added to pelican crossings.
After requesting to cross (by pressing a button) a kerb-side detector monitors the pedestrian's continued presence at the crossing. Should the pedestrian decide to cross prematurely, walk away from the crossing, or wait outside the detection area, the pedestrian's request to cross could be automatically cancelled so traffic is not halted unnecessarily.
An on-crossing detector ensures that the signal for vehicles remains red until the pedestrians have finished crossing (within practical limits).

UK Crossings 02 Pelican

Zebra crossings have increasingly been replaced by another type of pedestrian crossing, known as a pelican crossing (pedestrian light controlled). These are marked with traffic lights for the vehicles and green and red men icons illuminating to show pedestrians when and when not to cross. Pedestrians only have right-of-way here when the green man icon is lit or if they entered the crossing while lit. Pelican crossings were first introduced in 1969 (after an earlier failed experiment known as the Panda crossing).

There is a push button for those using the crossing. The term pelican crossing is used only in the UK, although similar traffic control devices are in use throughout the world. The pelican crossing was the first definitive light controlled crossing in the UK.

Pelican type crossings sometimes have further non-visual indication that it is safe to cross, such as a beep, vibrating button or tactile rotating cone in order to assist blind or partially sighted pedestrians.

UK Crossings 01 Zebra

This is a little pedestrian but there is slightly more to it than at first blush. We begin with zebra crossings, the originals, which are found in many parts of the world.

The crossing is characterised by longitudinal stripes (hence the term, named after the zebra) on the road, parallel to the flow of the traffic, alternately a light colour (usually white) and a dark one (painted black, or left unpainted if road surface itself is of a dark colour). The stripes are typically 40 to 60 cms (16 inches to 2 feet) wide. Pedestrians always have right of way on a zebra crossing.

The zebra crossing was first used (after some isolated experiments) at 1000 sites in the UK in 1949 (the original form being alternating strips of blue and yellow), and a 1951 measure introduced them into law. In the UK the crossing is marked with Belisha beacons on each side of the road. The beacon is a black and white pole topped by a flashing amber globe. They are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, Minister of transport who introduced them in 1934. Pedestrians have right of way on this type of crossing; road traffic must give way to them.
The crossings were originally marked by beacons and parallel rows of studs, but the stripes were soon added for the sake of visibility.

Today the amber lights flash and there are zig-zag lines on the approach. Zebra crossings with bollards in the middle should be treated as two separate crossings.

A zebra crossing famously appears on the cover of The Beatles' Abbey Road album. This is a famous zebra crossing, and has even been incorporated into the current Abbey Road Studios logo. However, since the Abbey Road photo was taken, zigzag lines at the kerb and in the centre of the road have been added to all zebra crossings to indicate the no-waiting zones on either side. There are actually two zebra crossings in Abbey Road and people can sometimes be seen taking photographs of each other on the wrong one.