CALGARY – A new report being presented to a city committee on Wednesday is recommending the City of Calgary move forward with the installation of more high-tech pedestrian crosswalk lights.
The results of a two-year pilot program of the rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) suggest they’ve been a great success.
Eight solar powered RRFBs were first installed in 2013, and after seeing considerable improvements in yielding behaviour, ten more were installed the following year.
Councillor Brian Pincott says the new technology is keeping people safe.
“We have over one pedestrian a day that gets hit by a vehicle in Calgary, and the vast majority of those are either in crosswalks or where the pedestrians have the right of way,” said Pincott.
“We’ve got to make our streets safer for pedestrians and this is just another tool to do that.”
The report from the City of Calgary’s roads department suggests that yielding for pedestrians has gone up by as much as 26% since the RRFBs were first installed.
The lights cost the city anywhere from $25,000 to $45,000, which is a significant amount less than the regular overhead pedestrian corridors that cost anywhere from $85,000 to $110,000.
The report is being presented to the Transportation and Transit Committee on Wednesday, before going to city council in September.
– With files from Dallas Flexhaug and Melissa Ramsay
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