--> -->
Hey, there! Log in / Register

Citizen complaint of the day: Too many chirps in front of Center Plaza

A concerned citizen complains about the pedestrian crossing where Cambridge Street turns into Tremont downtown:

The walk signal here is chirping birds. The problem is that there are nests of real birds above the Center3Plaza signage. A walker can't differentiate between the chirping signal and the real birds. Someone's gonna get killed here.

Neighborhoods: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

It would seem like something that should. Yet I have heard different sounds in different places. Some include a voice direction. If anything needs a universal sound, you would think it would be this.

That they're different to make it easier to distinguish different intersections.

For years I have argued that the sound of a screech monkey would be much more appropriate, and more difficult to confuse with local wildlife.

LOL I just spit my milk out

No matter what they used, the local Mockingbirds would copy it. Screaming Howler Monkey Mockingbird? You bet.

As for potential confusion, I'd defer to a blind person who has to deal with it to decide if it is a problem and suggest changes.

How do you know the person submitting the complaint wasn't blind?

Then who would the commenter know about the birds nest in the "Center3Plaza" sign?

Sound? Working in the area? Friends? How do you know about things you haven't seen yourself?

Except that they would likely have mentioned that and stated that it is an actual problem, rather than theorize about potential problems.

In any case, you would need to consult a blind person to actually solve the problem because their relationship to sound in their environment is not the same as that of most sighted people.

Some walk lights have tactile signals. I don't know if they all do.

Really? Where is an example, and how does it work?

The only ones I've seen are in Australia, where they've standardized on a pushbutton design where the button makes a pulse you can feel as it beeps.