It seems traffic planners don't care about pedestrians.
You got that right. I walk 4+ miles/day on city streets and I've noticed a steady erosion of rules designed to make pedestrian life safer and easier. What you mentioned above and this:
In addition to lights which are timed to not give a "go" signal to pedestrians unless they push the button, I've run across one that will make you wait until the next cycle unless you press it before the current cycle begins. That is, I push it a second after I would have gotten the "go" signal and I have to wait an entire cycle before it actually tells me to walk. The effect of this? I go anyway, but because the cycle without pedestrians is shorted this is quite dangerous.
Here's another trending in my city: buildings which sit directly on streets with parking lots that empty onto streets having their own lights, have separate lights for pedestrians to regulate them while on the sidewalk. So, you're walking down the sidewalk, no where near an intersection and a car comes out of a "driveway" at 20+ miles/hour. Freaked me out the first time this happened. I could have easily been killed as the car was just a few feet from me.
My guess: some city planner was paid off to allow this completely unsafe situation.
It amazes me how many communities (here in the USA, at least) just completely omit them altogether. They're so car-oriented that they actually deny the possibility of walking altogether. You get the feeling that they'd ban shoes if they could. Depressing.
> trending in my city: buildings which sit directly on streets with parking lots that empty onto streets having their own lights, have separate lights for pedestrians to regulate them while on the sidewalk
The Hilton in downtown Philadelphia has one of these. Fortunately there's also an audio cue. Unfortunately, you're on a ten foot wide sidewalk and certainly aren't expecting the beeper to be about you. It's a recipie for squashed pedestrian.
You got that right. I walk 4+ miles/day on city streets and I've noticed a steady erosion of rules designed to make pedestrian life safer and easier. What you mentioned above and this:
In addition to lights which are timed to not give a "go" signal to pedestrians unless they push the button, I've run across one that will make you wait until the next cycle unless you press it before the current cycle begins. That is, I push it a second after I would have gotten the "go" signal and I have to wait an entire cycle before it actually tells me to walk. The effect of this? I go anyway, but because the cycle without pedestrians is shorted this is quite dangerous.
Here's another trending in my city: buildings which sit directly on streets with parking lots that empty onto streets having their own lights, have separate lights for pedestrians to regulate them while on the sidewalk. So, you're walking down the sidewalk, no where near an intersection and a car comes out of a "driveway" at 20+ miles/hour. Freaked me out the first time this happened. I could have easily been killed as the car was just a few feet from me.
My guess: some city planner was paid off to allow this completely unsafe situation.