Puffin helps beat dash

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post

KEEPING IT SIMPLE: The "Puffin" has only solid red or green figures. When the green man is off, nobody should step on to the road.

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Say goodbye to that mad dash for the flashing red man.

A new style of electronic pedestrian crossing about to be trialled in Lower Hutt will be the first of its kind in New Zealand. Instead of looking across the street for the fluorescent figure, pedestrians will instead find themselves face to face with the red and green characters on their side of the road.

The technology behind Puffins (Pedestrian User Friendly Intelligent Crossings) is widely used in Britain and some Australian states. The pilot will be installed on Friday at the crossing on Railway Ave near Hutt Central School.

As well as pointing pedestrians in the direction of oncoming traffic, Puffins cut out the flashing red man stage of the crossing.

Hutt City Council traffic engineer Wayne King said all the evidence was that the new technology improved compliance and safety.

"When the [old crossings] are flashing red, everybody knows they can get across." That meant too many people were sucked on to the road, making it more dangerous for all concerned, he said.

With Puffins, which he hoped would eventually be rolled out across the Hutt Valley, walkers see only a solid red or green man. When the green man switches off, typically after six seconds, no one should step on to the road.

The technology also made crossings easier to negotiate for partially sighted people, Mr King said. Drivers would notice no difference.

Mr King first wrote a paper about the technology in 1993 and said he had been waiting to introduce it to New Zealand since.

The $15,000 pilot project includes six weeks of camera monitoring of pedestrian behaviour at the crossing, before and after the Puffins' installation. "We want to see the behaviour change hopefully for the better," Mr King said.

- © Fairfax NZ News