Ergo Crosswalk

October 20, 2010: published by Troy Heerwagen at 7:18 am - 1 Comment

Check out this cool crosswalk design, which matches much more closely how people actually cross the street. (Hat tip Seattle Transit Blog):

Clever Crosswalk design

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1 Response to “Ergo Crosswalk”

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  • Hans Gerwitz
    October 20, 2010 at 9:12 am

    This is an extremely poor design exercise, and completely ignores that new design will evoke new behavior. Following this logic, we’d just keep making the crosswalks wider and wider, until they are completely irrelevant as drivers have to intrude on them to make a safe intersection crossing themselves.

    It’s also a complete misuse of the term “ergonomic”. This is how old-school economists solve problems (and why that field is waking up to the complexity of human behavior).

    Actual innovation in pedestrian crossings would require changing the graphic patterns and positioning of crossings and studying (or at least modeling) the results. Maybe moving them farther away from the intersection, even creating a “turning zone” for the frontmost car, or using sidewalk elements to block (physically, as with planters or visually, as with curb textures) dangerous paths.

    (Sorry to be judgmental, but I do this for a living and could go on-and-on about this particular case. I do appreciate the attention this brings to the issue of urban design, though.)

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