Editing Pedestrian crossing (section)

===Pedestrian call buttons<span class="anchor" id="Call button"></span>===
{{globalize section|United States|date=May 2022}}
[[File:Los Angeles pedestrian crossing button.jpg|thumb|A pedestrian call button|upright]]

Pedestrian call buttons (also known as pedestrian push buttons or pedestrian beg buttons) are installed at traffic lights with a dedicated pedestrian signal, and are used to bring up the pedestrian "walk" indication in locations where they function correctly.<ref name="buttons nyt"/><ref name="buttons bbc"/> In the majority of locations where call buttons are installed, pushing the button does not light up the pedestrian walk sign immediately. One [[Portland State University]] researcher notes of call buttons in the US, "Most [call] buttons don't provide any feedback to the pedestrian that the traffic signal has received the input. It may appear at many locations that nothing happens."<ref name="Gan 2015">{{cite news |last=Gan |first=Vicky |title=Ask CityLab: Do "WALK" Buttons Actually Do Anything? |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=2 September 2015 |url=http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2015/09/ask-citylab-do-walk-buttons-actually-do-anything/400760/ |access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> However, there are some locations where call buttons do provide confirmation feedback. At such locations, pedestrians are more likely to wait for the "walk" indications.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van Houten |first1=Ron |last2=Ellis |first2=Ralph |last3=Sanda |first3=Jose |last4=Kim |first4=Jin-Lee |year=2006 |title=Pedestrian Push-Button Confirmation Increases Call Button Usage and Compliance |journal=Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board |volume=1982 |pages=99–103 |doi=10.3141/1982-14}}</ref>

Reports suggest that many walk buttons in some areas, such as [[New York City]] and the United Kingdom, may actually be either [[placebo button]]s or nonworking call buttons that used to function correctly.<ref name="buttons nyt">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/nyregion/for-exercise-in-new-york-futility-push-button.html |work=The New York Times |title=For Exercise in New York Futility, Push Button |first=Michael |last=Luo |date=27 February 2004 |access-date=22 May 2010 }}</ref><ref name="buttons bbc"/> In the former case, these buttons are designed to give pedestrians an [[illusion of control]] while the crossing signal continues its operation as programmed.<ref name="buttons bbc">{{cite news |last=Castella |first=Tom |date=4 September 2013 |title=Does pressing the pedestrian crossing button actually do anything? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23869955 |newspaper=BBC News Magazine |publisher=BBC |access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref> However, in instances of the latter case, such as New York City's, the buttons were simply deactivated when traffic signals were updated to automatically include pedestrian phases as part of every signal cycle. In such instances these buttons may be removed during future updates to the pedestrian signals.<ref name="buttons nyt"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Kim |first=Susanna |title=Why the Crosswalk Buttons in Your City May Not Work |website=ABC News |date=31 July 2014 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/idea-citys-crosswalk-buttons-work/story?id=24796722 |access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, pressing a button at a standalone pedestrian crossing that is unconnected to a junction will turn a traffic light red immediately, but this is not necessarily the case at a junction.<ref name="buttons bbc"/>

Sometimes, call buttons work only at some intersections, at certain times of day, or certain periods of the year, such as in New York City or in [[Boston]], Massachusetts.<ref name="buttons nyt"/><ref name=radioboston/> In Boston, some busy intersections are programmed to give a pedestrian cycle during certain times of day (so pushing the button is not necessary) but at off-peak times a button push is required to get a pedestrian cycle.  In neighboring [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], a button press is always required if a button is available, though the city prefers to build signals where no button is present and the pedestrian cycle always happens between short car cycles.<ref name=radioboston/> In both cases the light will not turn immediately, but will wait until the next available pedestrian slot in a pre-determined rotation.<ref name=radioboston>{{cite web |url=http://radioboston.wbur.org/2010/05/10/walk-buttons |title=Crosswalk Buttons Don't Do Anything! Except When They Do |last1=Ragusea |first1=Adam |author-link1=Adam Ragusea |work=Radio Boston |date=10 May 2010}}</ref>