New York City Will Add 1,500 Timers for Pedestrians to Make Streets Safer

New York City will install countdown timers at 1,500 boulevard intersections to make its streets even safer for pedestrians after traffic fatalities reached an all- time low, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

The plan was among the recommendations in a report by the city’s Department of Transportation, which studied fatal traffic accidents since 2002. The city will also test removal of curbside parking to improve left-turn visibility on Manhattan avenues and implement a pilot program to create 20 mile-per-hour zones in residential neighborhoods.

Pedestrians accounted for 52 percent of traffic fatalities in the city between 2005 and 2009, according to the mayor. The city had 256 traffic deaths in 2009, a 63 percent drop since 1990, and its safest year since record-keeping began in 1910.

“The report and actions detailed today, including the installation of pedestrian countdown signals across the city, will make our streets even safer, especially for the pedestrians,” Bloomberg said at a news conference at Northern Boulevard and 108th Street in Queens, one of the wide roadways equipped with a new countdown device.

The timers, part of the city’s traditional walk/don’t walk signs, tell pedestrians how long they have to cross a street before the light changes.

Of the 10 largest U.S. cities, New York recorded the lowest traffic fatality rate: 3.5 per 100,000 residents, compared with an average 7.75 per 100,000 among the others, according to the Transportation Department report released today.

Test Program

Several cities, from San Francisco to Wilmington, Delaware, have installed countdown signals at intersections. New York tested the timers at 24 locations and studied the eight-year fatality data before deciding to go ahead with the plan, said Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

“New York is not like any other city, and so what we’re doing is bringing targeted solutions to the streets,” Sadik- Khan said at the news conference. “Before we were to go for full-scale implementation of a technology like the one we’re implementing today, we wanted to make sure that it worked.”

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.