Predictive pedestrian crossing signals for Vienna

csm_Ampel-by-Guenther_Pichler_GmbH-BANNER-3_9708ae7e42Do you get frustrated when you are stopped at pedestrian signals and there is no one crossing? David Brown says help is on the way

 Austria’s University of Technology is developing a system that recognizes pedestrians’ intention, or not, to cross the road

It is well known that not all pedestrians wait for the green phase and cross the street when the lights are red resulting in drivers having to stop even though nobody is there.

With this new camera-based system, if there is a pedestrian, the walk light stays lit long enough, for all the people it has detected, to safely get across. However, if the system sees that someone has approached the crossing but then left, it will cancel the walk-light request, allowing traffic to flow uninterrupted.

About David Brown 607 Articles
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning. What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive. His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney. David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto