Editing Pedestrian crossing (section)

==={{anchor|Accessible pedestrian signals}}Audible signals===
[[File:PedestrianSignalPushButton.jpg|thumb|left|An accessible pedestrian signal which is used in the US and Canada]]
Crosswalks have adaptations, mainly for people with visual impairments, through the addition of accessible pedestrian signals (APS) that may include speakers at the pushbutton, or under the signal display, for each crossing location.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |url=http://cce.oregonstate.edu/sites/cce.oregonstate.edu/files/acc_signalsreport.pdf |title=Accessible Pedestrian Signals |last1=Bentzen |first1=Billie Louise |last2=Tabor |first2=Lee S. |date=August 1998 |publisher=Accessible Design for the Blind|access-date=10 March 2017}}</ref> These types of signals have been shown to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van Houten |first1=Ron |last2=Louis Malenfant |first2=J. |last3=Van Houten |first3=Joy |last4=Retting |first4=Richard |date=1 January 1997 |title=Using Auditory Pedestrian Signals To Reduce Pedestrian and Vehicle Conflicts |journal=Transportation Research Record |volume=1578 |pages=20–22 |doi=10.3141/1578-03 |s2cid=111136233 |issn=0361-1981}}</ref> However, without other indications such as tactile pavings or cones, these APS units may be hard for visually impaired people to locate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barlow |first1=Janet M. |last2=Scott |first2=Alan C. |last3=Bentzen |first3=Billie Louise |date=1 January 2009 |title=Audible Beaconing with Accessible Pedestrian Signals |journal=AER Journal |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=149–158 |issn=1945-5569 |pmc=2901122 |pmid=20622978 }}</ref>

In the United States, the standards in the 2009 MUTCD require APS units to have a pushbutton locator tone, audible and vibrotactile walk indications, a tactile arrow aligned with the direction of travel on the crosswalk, and to respond to ambient sound. The pushbutton locator tone is a beep or tick, repeating at once per second, to allow people who are blind to find the device.<ref name="mutcd-4e" /> If APS units are installed in more than one crossing direction (e.g. if there are APS units at a curb for both the north–south and west–east crossing directions), different sounds or speech messages may be used for each direction.<ref name=":9" /> Under the MUTCD guideline, the walk indication may be a speech message if two or more units on the same curb are separated by less than {{Convert|10|ft|m}}. These speech messages usually follow the pattern "[Street name]. Walk sign is on to cross [Street Name]."<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/APSTechnicalSpecifications4_20_2010.pdf|title=APS Technical Specifications|website=SFMTA|access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref> Otherwise, the walk indication may be a "percussive tone", which usually consists of repeated, rapid sounds that can be clearly heard from the opposite curb and can oscillate between high and low volumes.<ref name=":12" /> In both cases, when the "don't walk" indication is flashing, the device will beep at every second until the "don't walk" indication becomes steady and the pedestrian countdown indication reaches "0", at which point the device will beep intermittently at lower volume.<ref name=":12" /> When activated, the APS units are mandated to be accompanied by a vibrating arrow on the APS during the walk signal.<ref name="mutcd-4e" />

The devices have been in existence since the mid-20th century, but were not popular until the 2000s because of concerns over noise.<ref name=":9" /> As of the 2009 MUTCD, APS are supposed to be set to be heard only 6 to 12 feet from the device to be easy to detect from a close distance but not so loud as to be intrusive to neighboring properties.<ref name="mutcd-4e" /> Among American cities, San Francisco has one of the greatest numbers of APS-equipped intersections in the United States, with APS installed at 202 intersections {{As of|October 2016|lc=yes}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2016/APS%20Intersection%20List%2010_31_2016.pdf|title=Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), October 31, 2016|website=SFMTA|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322204135/https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2016/APS%20Intersection%20List%2010_31_2016.pdf|archive-date=22 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> New York City has APS at 131 intersections {{As of|November 2015|lc=y}}, with 75 more intersections to be equipped every year after that.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2015-aps-program-status-report.pdf|title=Accessible Pedestrian Signals Program Status Report|date=November 2015|website=[[Government of New York City|nyc.gov]]|publisher=[[New York City Department of Transportation]]|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref>
[[File:LA2 dont walk.ogg|thumb|Pedestrian sound signal in Sweden. During the first 9 seconds, the slow don't walk signal is heard. Then the button is pressed, sounding a beep. Soon after this, the faster walk signal is heard.]]
APS in other countries may consist of a short recorded message, as in Scotland, [[Hong Kong]], Singapore and some parts of Canada (moderate to large urban centres). In Japan, various electronic melodies are played, often of traditional melancholic [[folk song]]s such as "[[Tōryanse]]" or "[[Sakura Sakura|Sakura]]". In Croatia, Denmark Israel, Sweden, and Hong Kong, beeps (or clicks) with long intervals in-between signifying "don't walk" mode and beeps with very short intervals signifying "walk" mode; however, the standards differ by the implementing country (for example, the intervals between clicks in Hong Kong, for both "walk" mode and "don't walk" mode, are shorter than the corresponding intervals in Sweden).