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Glossary
 
Australia

Map of Australia
Functioning of pedestrian signals
Pedestrian Signal
  • Red and green man signals with the red man flashing during flashing DON'T WALK interval
  • All pedestrian pushbuttons were located in a very standardized location, on side of crosswalk away from the parallel street, aligned with the crosswalk line, about l5 to 1.0 m from the curb line. Most fixed timed intersections in downtown Sydney had pushbuttons with audible and vibrotactile features.
Pedestrian signal timing
  • WALK and flashing DON'T WALK were similar to US system, with clearance interval timed at 1 meter per second.
Signalized left turn lane with APS mounted close to the crosswalk locations. Three APS are on the splitter island, one for each crossing.
Signalized left turn lane with APS mounted close to the crosswalk locations. Three APS are on the splitter island, one for each crossing.

Intersection geometry
 Streets can be wide and complex, sometimes with narrow medians and left turn slip lanes. (Driving is on the left.) Slip lanes were sometimes signalized.

Roundabouts are used extensively and orientation and mobility specialists and blind travelers state that roundabouts are a barrier to travel.

Detectable warnings or "TGSI's" (tactile ground surface indicators) are used to define the edge of the street on the curb ramp, but not consistently installed from state to state. Edge of TGSI is aligned perpendicularly to the crosswalk direction, which is intended to provide additional directional information to blind pedestrians.

At areas with high levels of pedestrian traffic, there may be exclusive pedestrian phasing. Most intersections with exclusive pedestrian phasing have audible signals.

Tactile Ground Surface Indicators, such as bar tiles and 'dot tiles' (called detectable warning in the US) are ubiquitous in urban areas and have been in use since the 1960s. There was often a bar tile leading toward the crosswalk, with dot tiles at the edge of the street. However, the tiles, locations, and installation varied greatly.

Installation examples
Typical APS location in relation to the crosswalk and sidewalk. Australian curb ramp standards allow a steeper flare than allowed by US standards. Installation of tactile arrows was not consistent and provided misleading information in some cases.
Typical APS location in relation to the crosswalk and sidewalk. Australian curb ramp standards allow a steeper flare than allowed by US standards. Installation of tactile arrows was not consistent and provided misleading information in some cases.

This APS has a tactile arrow within a larger visible arrow. Other features include a locator tone and audible and vibrotactile walk indication.
This APS has a tactile arrow within a larger visible arrow. Other features include a locator tone and audible and vibrotactile walk indication.
Number of APS
Each state is responsible for its own area.

Overall number was not available

APS have been fairly extensively installed in areas where there is pedestrian traffic since the 1980s.

APS functioning
Pushbutton integrated type of signal is used. The pushbutton and sound are standardized nationally.

There are several APS manufacturers in the Australian market but the pole mounted control box overhead was the only visible difference. All pushbuttons looked identical, whether they had APS or not, and all with audio-tactile features functioned identically.

Locator tone
Locator tone has a repetition rate of once every 2 seconds.

WALK indicator:
  • Fast repetition of low frequency thumping sound during the WALK interval.
  • May have the capability to be set so that the WALK sound is limited to 8 seconds even when the WALK indication is longer.
Alert tone: "Alert tone" at the beginning of the WALK indication is set to sound at 14 db above ambient.

Additional information
  • All devices respond to ambient sound, both for the locator tone and the WALK indication.
  • Vibrotactile information at the arrow panel pulses at the same rate as the audible tone.
  • Placement was quite standardized at line of the crosswalk away from the center of the intersection. Orientation of face of the APS varied; see photos above. Speaker for the APS is the face of the arrow so sound is emanating from face of unit. Orientation of the device can make a difference in hearing the APS when approaching or from the street.
  • APS are sometimes turned off at night due to neighbors' complaints about noise.
Comments
The standardized location of the pushbutton, with each pushbutton located beside the waiting location for the crossing, provided a clear indication of which crossing the APS was indicating. There was no need for different sounds for different directions of travel. Even on porkchop type islands with three devices sounding, it was possible to distinguish the location and crossing being signaled.

Sources of information
George Carnazolla, Transport SA, Adelaide

Gayle Clark, Orientation and mobility specialist, Guide Dogs Association of SA and NT, Inc., Adelaide

Susan Lockhart, Orientation and Mobility specialist, Sydney

Murray Mountain, Access Design Solutions, Melbourne

Bob and Jelena Panich, Bob Panich Consultancy, Ryde (Sydney)

Stephen Purtill, Specifications and Standards, VIC Roads, Melbourne

John Samperi, Signal Engineer

Roley Stuart, Client Services Manager, Guide Dogs Association of SA and NT, Inc., Adelaide

Jack Vankuyk, Traffic Signals Supervisor, RTA Operations, Sydney


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