This topic came up in another thread, so I thought it'd be interesting to comment on how the crossings have come to be known by the names of various creatures.

The oldest and best-known is the zebra crossing, named for the pattern of black-and-white stripes running across the road. Next came the pelican crossing, an ingenious contraction of "pedestrian light controlled crossing" (with the final O sneakily changed to an A).

More recently we've had the puffin crossing, an acronym for "pedestrian user-friendly intelligent crossing" (again, an extra F has been sneaked in to make the acronym work). And finally there's the toucan crossing, where pedestrians and cyclists cross side by side - so called, even more ingeniously, because "two can" cross there!

There's more information at the site here, which names a fifth type of crossing I hadn't heard of: the Pegasus crossing, which makes special provision for horse riders. I presume this isn't an acronym but is simply named after the mythical winged horse. Though of course if you had a winged horse there'd be no need for the crossing

I remember being surprised when I first came across all the different names. Among the public though the only one, apart from "Zebra" that ever gained any popularity was "Pelican". I don't think I've ever actually heard anyone use "puffin", "toucan" or "Pegasus" in conversation, apart from - maybe - in conversations about different types of pedestrian crossing.

Puffins and toucans are quite recent inventions, and I wouldn't really have expected the names to catch on with the general public. I think they're mainly used by people in the transport industry.

Incidentally am I alone in not finding puffin crossings particularly "user-friendly"? I much prefer having the signals on the opposite side of the road where I can watch them while keeping an eye on the traffic at the same time. Having them on the nearside just confuses me. I understand they're for the benefit of visually impaired people, but why not have them in both locations?

I agree. It seems that the sensible solution is to have the display in both places as, unless you have problems with your vision, the natural sight line is to look across the road that you are crossing, not down and to your right.

Timings could use a little work too. Outside one of the campuses for South Birmingham College, there is an especially annoying crossroads. The lights cycle as follows.

N/S Green E/W Red (for quite a long time)
N/S Red E/W Green (for quite a long time)
ALL Red (for about ten seconds)

There is so much traffic turning that to cross anywhere on either of the first two is suicidally dangerous.
However the timing is such that you only just have time to cross one road on the third meaning that to get safely across to the opposite corner you have to either do it in two stages waiting in the middle for the whole cycle to go again or, as most people try, run diagonally across and hope that you make it before the change.

I looked up the Department for Transport's Puffin Good Practice Guide for an explanation. It says:

"With farside pedestrian signals, pedestrians have to look away from approaching traffic to see the pedestrian signal. When pedestrians look at a nearside Puffin display they are also aware of approaching traffic. Seeing the approaching traffic and the pedestrian display at the same time should help to reduce accident risk."

So apparently it's a deliberate move. I can't say I'd noticed this benefit myself.

Hereabouts (USA) zebras were once common, but no longer. I'd not heard of the other terms.

It seems odd that in industrialized countries we've pretty much forgotten that the foot was invented long before the wheel, and the wheel before the motor. I find it insane that as a pedestrian in many US cities, if I fail to arrive BEFORE a signal changes, I must wait a full cycle of the lights AND push a button to activate a pedestrian signal. This makes me question the etymology of the word, "civil," and the parentage of so-called civil engineers.

Several years ago a particular ped crossing suffered from a spate of injuries and deaths to those crossing. It seems the traffic engineers allowed about fifteen seconds for peds to cross a busy street. This was sufficient for healthy people, but the crossing was also used by residents of an old age home. Many of them used some sort of aid, like a cane or walker, and could not get across in the allotted time.

The city recently widened the road in front of our hospital and moved the sidewalks, along with the telephone poles. Someone decided that since the telephone poles presented a hazard in their usual place at the very edge of the sidewalk, moving them in about three feet would make it less likely they'd be hit by a car. But the poles ended up in the center of the sidewalk,l making it impossible for wheelchairs to use the walk, and forcing them into the street. Not too bright.

They send people to college and pay them highly to "engineer" this stuff! Senator Proxmire, I miss you! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Fleece_Award

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
It seems odd that in industrialized countries we've pretty much forgotten that the foot was invented long before the wheel, and the wheel before the motor.

I think you may mean "the US" rather than "industrialized countries". There's plenty of provision for walkers and cyclists here in the UK, though it's far from perfect. The puffin crossing is a case in point - it uses sensors which detect the presence of pedestrians waiting at the crossing, and as they are crossing the road. Do you have anything similar?

I sometimes have difficulty understanding UK-speakers but I found this great site that has helped me significantly. (Link)

quote:

Hereabouts (USA) zebras were once common, but no longer. I'd not heard of the other terms.

I don't recall zebras or any of the others.

quote:

It seems odd that in industrialized countries we've pretty much forgotten that the foot was invented long before the wheel, and the wheel before the motor. I find it insane that as a pedestrian in many US cities, if I fail to arrive BEFORE a signal changes, I must wait a full cycle of the lights AND push a button to activate a pedestrian signal. This makes me question the etymology of the word, "civil," and the parentage of so-called civil engineers.

Well, in Chicago the pedestrians and bikers clearly own the roads. Walkers j-walk & bikers don't recognize red lights, stop signs, turn signals, etc. It's a mess! And I am not absolving myself here. I recently got hit (not injured) by a cab for j-walking. It's just what we do in Chicago.

"J-walking"? I thought it was spelt "jaywalking".

I hesitate to quote Wikipedia in the light of your recent post on the subject, but here's what it says:

"The word jaywalk is a compound word derived from the word jay, an inexperienced person, and walk. No historical evidence supports an alternative folk etymology by which the word is traced to the letter 'J' (characterizing the route a jaywalker might follow)."

Ah, well. I was in a hurry, I guess. Sorry about that! Here is another thread where I talked about jaywalking, using the correct spelling: Link. We had a nice discussion there, I think, particularly about the etymology of jaywalking. Isn't there also a phrase, "as naked as a jaybird?"

kThat's what I look like as I type.