Pedestrian scramble

In Adelaide, there are two scrambles on either end of Rundle Mall, King William Street and another on Pulteney Street. There is another crossing at the intersection of King William Street, Waymouth Street and Pirie Street.

In Brisbane, there are two noteworthy scrambles: one in the central business district at the intersection of Adelaide and Edward Streets, adjacent to the Queen Street Mall; and a second at the intersection of Vulture and Boundary Streets in the suburb of West End.

In Darwin, there is a pedestrian scramble at the CBD end of Smith St Mall.

In Melbourne, there is a pedestrian scramble at the intersection of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, in front of Flinders Street railway station, allowing pedestrians to walk directly to the station and the two island tram platforms in the middle of both streets. Also, since 2019 there is a four-way scramble at the intersection of Wellington St and Charles St in Kew (due to school pedestrian traffic through this intersection).

in Albury, there is a long-standing 4-way scramble on the busiest CBD intersection, Dean St and Kiewa St.

In Perth, pedestrian scrambles are mostly found in the CBD shopping area (the intersections between two of Barrack, Hay, Murray and William Streets. They are also found at the CBD intersections of St Georges Terrace, Mount and Milligan Streets and where St Georges changes to Adelaide Terrace at Victoria Avenue. The inner suburb of Mount Lawley also has a set where Beaufort Street intersects Walcott Street as well as Leederville at the intersection of Oxford and Vincent Streets.

In Sydney, there are numerous examples in built-up commercial and CBD areas, like the intersection of George and Druitt Streets (with one of the corner blocks being the Sydney Town Hall), Oxford Street and Bourke Street in Darlinghurst, Church Street in Parramatta also has them, as do the Penrith and Fairfield central business districts.

Vancouver was one of the first cities worldwide to use the concept at individual locations.[14] London, Ontario, had a Barnes' Dance crosswalk in the 1960s at the intersection of Clarence and King streets. In Toronto, the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street, the location of Yonge-Dundas Square, has the city's first installed scramble intersection[15] and has since been joined by two more on Bloor Street at Yonge and Bay Streets in the downtown area. In 2015, Toronto has eliminated the Bay and Bloor scramble crossing after an evaluation study found 'modest positive benefits for pedestrians' and 'negative impacts to vehicular traffic'. The staff report also noted that sideswipe collisions at Bay and Bloor have more than doubled and rear-end type crashes have increased by 50% “likely due to increased driver frustration”.[16] Kingston, Ontario, has a scramble crosswalk at the corners of Union Street and University Avenue to increase the safety of Queen's University students. Calgary has two pedestrian scrambles in the Eau Claire neighbourhood. St. Albert, Alberta, has installed a test pedestrian scramble as of the end of May 2017. Edmonton has four as part of a pilot project, with plans for a fifth by early December.[14][17] Quebec City and Banff also have a few pedestrian scramble intersections. Possibly the world's most Northern diagonal pedestrian crossing is also in Canada, crossing University Avenue in Antigonish (Nova Scotia).

Pedestrian scrambles, known as a scramble crossing (スクランブル交差点, sukuranburu-kōsaten), are very common in Japan, where more than over 300 such intersections exist. Japan's largest, and most famous, diagonal crossing is found in Tokyo, outside Shibuya station[18] Over 3,000 pedestrians can cross in one scramble and has become a symbol of Tokyo and Japan as a whole.[19] Sukiyabashi in Ginza is another large scramble crossing in Tokyo.

Kansai also has many diagonal crossings, including four outside the north exit of Kyoto Station alone. Most of the diagonal crossings in Osaka are located in the south of the city, in Abeno ward.

The first diagonal crossing to be installed in Japan was in the Kyushu city of Kumamoto in 1969.

In the Netherlands, a version of this crossing, called a Simultaneous Green light for Bicyclists, combined with an all way green light for pedestrians, is currently being used in a number of intersections in the North and East of the Netherlands.

In New Zealand, the first Barnes Dance was introduced in 1958 on Queen Street, Auckland, and was soon found in other cities as well.[1] The Queen Street examples are Custom Street, Shortland, Wyndham, Victoria and Wellesley Street intersections. When Mayoral Drive was constructed in the 1970s it was not created as a Barnes Dance -indicative of a change in traffic management models.

The Queen Street crossings remain today, despite early 2000s attempts to remove them for greater car priority, and have been extended with greater numbers of phases and pedestrian green times during the late 2000s.

Additionally, some Barnes Dance intersections do not provide painted crossings and are therefore de facto, such as the intersection of Grafton Rd and Symonds St within the University of Auckland city campus. Karangahape Road had two such crossings – the Queen Street / K Road intersection was modified in the 1990s but the Pitt Street / K Road intersection is still a Barnes Dance. On nearby Ponsonby Road there is a Barnes Dance at Franklin Road. There is a Barnes Dance on the Great North Road at the Surrey Crescent intersection with Williamson Avenue. There is also a Barnes Dance at the multiple street intersection of Lake Road, Hurstmere Road, Northcroft Street and The Strand in Takapuna.

Barnes Dances also existed in several other cities in New Zealand, notably on Colombo Street, Christchurch and at Cargill's Corner in South Dunedin, but have been gradually phased out. Barnes Dances exist in the South Island on Stafford Street in Timaru and three in the Christchurch CBD. In Dunedin Barnes Dances were reintroduced early in 2018, with the first two of eight sites (on the Octagon's junctions with Princes and George Streets) opened in March.

In Taiwan, the word "pedestrian scramble" was translated to "行人專用時相" in traditional Chinese by the transportation authority.

In the 1990s, the first pedestrian scramble was implemented at the QingDao West Road and GongYuan Road intersection in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei City by the Taipei City Government. After then, more cities have applied pedestrian scrambles to important intersections and downtown areas in Taiwan like New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Keelung City, Hsinchu City, Chiayi City and Yilan County.

Diagonal crossing in Balham

In 2002, Greater Manchester Urban Traffic (GMUTC) is currently understood to have installed the first diagonal crossing in the UK at the junction of Market Street and Beal Lane in Shaw, Oldham. Greater Manchester [20]

The first formal diagonal crossing in London was opened in Balham town centre in 2005. The success of the Balham crossing was followed by conversion of the existing crossing facilities at Oxford Circus in 2009,[21] Further diagonal crossings were constructed in Wood Green in 2010 and Wimbledon in 2012.

Swansea opened a diagonal crossing in 2015.

Harrogate also opened a diagonal crossing in 2015. Since opening, some have criticised the time given for pedestrians to cross and claim that poor design led to the death of an elderly pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle in its first year of operation.[22]

Kansas City was one of the first cities that used a pedestrian scramble system at a few locations.[2] Denver formerly used the pedestrian scramble system at nearly every intersection in the downtown business district. The practice was eliminated on 11 April 2011, in order to "balance" resources allotted to pedestrians, vehicles, and mass transit. Exclusive pedestrian intervals were kept, but the diagonal crossing was made illegal.[23][24]

Sign for a pedestrian scramble in the United States

In Boston, most signalized intersections use an exclusive pedestrian phase, where vehicular traffic is stopped in all directions and it is possible for fast walkers to cross the street diagonally (even though the crosswalks are not marked as such). However, a growing number of traffic signals are being programmed to use a concurrent pedestrian phase.[25] A similar situation exists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where intersections with exclusive intervals can allow fast walkers to cross the street diagonally.[26]

In Washington, D.C., diagonal crossing existed at several downtown intersections until the mid-1980s. It was tried again on an experimental basis at 7th and H streets Northwest in the Chinatown neighborhood beginning May 2010.[27] In 2017, a second Barnes Dance crosswalk was added at Irving and 14th streets Northwest.[28]

In New Haven, all of the intersections with traffic lights have implemented the pedestrian scramble, since at least 1974.

Pedestrian scramble at New York City's Union Square

In New York City, there are numerous signals with a pedestrian scramble phase; those are most often found in intersections with only one vehicle phase.[29] A notable pedestrian scramble exists in Lower Manhattan at the intersection of Vesey Street, Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street.[30] Another notable scramble occurs at the busy intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn; this particular signal was the site of several crashes due to pedestrians crossing against the light, since pedestrians have a "don't walk" signal when vehicles in either direction have a green signal.[31]

Signals at several intersections in Pittsburgh, including along Craig Street at Centre Avenue, Bayard Street, Fifth Avenue, and Forbes Avenue near the University of Pittsburgh; on Forbes at Morewood Street at the main entrance to Carnegie Mellon University; and on Forbes at Murray and Shady Avenues in Squirrel Hill stop traffic from all directions and allow pedestrians to cross in all directions. They are not, however, specially signed; they use a standard pedestrian crossing light (with added audio signal for the visually impaired).

The signal at the intersection of McKinley and Riverside Avenues on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, is called the "Scramble Light" and is identified by the university as a campus landmark.[32]

Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, has numerous legal diagonal crosswalks in use around campus, as well as some through uptown.

Some pedestrian scrambles are implemented only temporarily, during times when extremely high pedestrian traffic is expected. A notable example of this occurs on home-game Saturdays at the intersection of Main Street and Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is immediately adjacent to Michigan Stadium. Local police take control of the vehicular signals and indicate the pedestrian phase by playing Michigan's fight song, "The Victors."

The city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii has installed multiple pedestrian scramble crossings in the Waikīkī neighborhood. There are at least three of these intersections along Kalakaua Avenue at Lewers St, Royal Hawaiian Avenue and Seaside Avenue.

On 31 May 2013, Chicago began testing a pedestrian scramble on the intersection of State Street and Jackson Boulevard.[33] It is now permanent.

In Nevada, both Reno and Sparks have pedestrian scramble interchanges. Reno's is at the intersection of Virginia and 2nd Avenue downtown to accommodate casino pedestrian traffic, and Sparks' are along Victorian Avenue to assist people in crossing to festivals that are held along that street.

Seattle uses the pedestrian scramble at 1st and Pike, 1st and University, 1st and Cherry, Beacon and 15th, 15th Ave NE and NE 40th St, and at the West Seattle Junction. The intersections are marked with a sign labeled "All Way Walk."[34] Bellevue, Washington, also has one at 108th Avenue NE and the NE 6th Street pedestrian walkway, on the west side of Bellevue Transit Center. It is not signed as an all-way walk, but has pedestrian walk lights, and is accompanied by an auditory alert of "Walk sign is on for all crossings."

In California, San Francisco has several pedestrian scrambles along Stockton Street in Chinatown, Montgomery Street in the Financial District, as well as in several other locations.[35] In Los Angeles County, California, pedestrian scrambles are used in the Rodeo Drive commercial area of Beverly Hills; at the intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Le Conte Avenue as well as Weyburn and Broxton Avenues in the Westwood section of Los Angeles immediately adjacent to the UCLA campus; at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood, and at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue near the University of Southern California.[36] In 1994, two scrambles were installed in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, along Colorado Boulevard at two intersections: at DeLacey Avenue and at Raymond Avenue.[37] In San Diego, one of the locations that uses pedestrian scrambles is at the intersection of Market Street and 5th Avenue,[38] but the city does not plan to add any additional scrambles.[36] Carlsbad added its first scramble in 2012,[38] and the campus of UC Davis installed a bike/pedestrian scramble near its recreation center in 2014.[39]

Pedestrian scramble at the corner of S Flores Street and Dolorosa in San Antonio

The City of El Paso, Texas, added pedestrian scramble markings to the intersection of Santa Fe Street and Main Drive in Downtown in April 2015.

In Portland, Oregon, a pedestrian scramble was added in November 2015 to the intersection of NW 11th Avenue and NW Couch Street, near Powell's Books.[40][41]

Multiple pedestrian scrambles were added in the downtown area of Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2016.[42]

On 9 May 2017, as part of the New York City Vision Zero program, the city announced that Manhattan may be getting new diagonal crossing intersections, including Lower Manhattan and Union Square. These crosswalks are planned to be installed by the end of 2017.[43]