Trial for LED light strips at pedestrian crossings to be extended
They will be brighter and installed at more areas
A trial involving the use of light-emitting diode (LED) strips to improve safety at pedestrian crossings is being enhanced and extended, with brighter strips and more test locations, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced yesterday.
The lights - which go from green to red - are aimed at ensuring all pedestrians, in particular those glued to their smartphones, cross the road safely.
The LED strips were introduced in May last year - in addition to the regular traffic lights - as part of a six-month trial.
Costing $10,000 to $13,000 to install at each crossing, they were introduced at the junction of Buyong Road and Orchard Road, and the Victoria Street crossing outside Bugis Junction.
The LTA is now extending the trial to the end of this year and introducing the strips at two other locations. These are the St Andrew's Road crossing in front of the National Gallery Singapore and the Bencoolen Road crossing between OG Albert Complex and Sim Lim Square.
At these locations, the strips have been redesigned with green arrows to be "more intuitive" for users.
The strips at the St Andrew's Road crossing, introduced yesterday, will first display a steady green light to indicate that pedestrians have right of way to cross, followed by a flashing green light to warn them not to cross.
By the end of the month, the strips in Bencoolen Street will flash dynamically, one by one, in the direction the pedestrians are supposed to walk.
At both locations, horizontal strips will light up in a steady red hue when the red man pedestrian signal is on.
"During the extended trial, LTA will continue to conduct site observations as well as public perception surveys to seek views on these new traffic light strip designs and their effectiveness," said the LTA, adding that this would enable it to assess whether the strips serve to improve road safety.
The LTA said pedestrians had responded positively to the strips as a safety feature but suggested they could be brighter during the daytime - something the authority has responded to.
In-ground traffic lights are also used in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, as well as Cologne and Augsburg in Germany.
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