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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Audible Indications for Accessible Pedestrian Signals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2381696</link>
      <description><![CDATA[To cross streets safely, pedestrians with vision disabilities (including those with hearing disabilities) must quickly and accurately determine the onset of the walk indication. They must also be able to recognize and determine, by sound, the trajectories of vehicles that may intrude into their path of travel to allow them to take appropriate action, such as delaying the onset of crossing or pausing while crossing.

In recent years, state departments of transportation have made great efforts to enhance accessibility for pedestrians with vision disabilities. These efforts often contemplate implementing various features of Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), such as changing the default walk indication from a percussive tone to a speech message and incorporating audible countdowns during the pedestrian change interval. However, these features are not fully aligned with the requirements outlined in the current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

While the existing MUTCD standards do specify percussive tones for the walk interval, and the return of the locator tone during the clearance interval to prevent auditory masking of vehicle sounds and reduce cognitive load, groups representing vision-impaired individuals have suggested that speech messages and audible countdowns could provide more descriptive auditory cues. These enhancements may improve safety by increasing accessibility, confidence, and independence for APS users.

Research is needed to provide empirical evidence on whether these proposed changes enhance the safety and accessibility of APS for pedestrians with vision disabilities.

The objective of the project is to determine the most effective types of indications for APS to enhance the safety and accessibility of pedestrians with vision disabilities using research on human factors through a combination of laboratory and field experiments.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2024 21:26:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2381696</guid>
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      <title>Navigation Guidance for People With Vision Impairment
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1369996</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The project is intended to accomplish five main objectives in terms of its potential for technical innovation and commercial application in the field of navigation aid for blind or visually impaired persons. The first objective is to provide a navigational aid that can track the location of a blind person anywhere, including areas where a global positioning system (GPS) is not available or not reliable (e.g., indoors, in urban areas with tall buildings, etc.). The second is to look ahead in time and space to plan a route that allows a visually impaired person to get to a destination, then to adaptively update the route based on vision system recognized obstacles that are to be avoided, such as people or construction within the path (a concept know in robotics as Event Horizon). The third is to take gestural input and provide natural route guidance based on tactile stimuli (instead of relying solely on auditory or visual instructions). The fourth objective is to use computer vision techniques to verify that the user has reached the correct destination, as well as to find stairs, elevators (buttons), hallways, and doors in the visual scope to help with navigation. The final objective is to take input from and provide input to intelligent traffic systems (for example, the ability to communicate with drivers to send them alerts when they are getting close to a blind person who is crossing the street).
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:44:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1369996</guid>
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      <title>Enhanced Pedestrian Crossing - Experimenting with Alternatives to MUTCD standards for Crossing Signals and Evaluating Best Practices for Installing Accessible Pedestrian Signals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1229829</link>
      <description><![CDATA[All new pedestrian signals and pedestrian signal modifications in Delaware utilize Countdown Pedestrian Signals. A countdown timer is displayed next to the flashing hand indication during the pedestrian clearance phase. Several national studies have shown that the public understands these indications better than the standard flashing hand indication, and at least one large study in San Francisco showed reduced pedestrian crashes. However, per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the end of the countdown coincides with the end of the respective green cycle. The remaining yellow interval serves as additional time for crossing. Ten to twenty sites will be selected for an experiment with the end of the countdown timing coinciding with the beginning of the associated green phase. essentially eliminating the additional time provided by the yellow interval. Data will be collected at all sites operating per MUTCD standards and then the countdown timer will be altered to coincide with the end of the yellow phase. Data could be collected by several sources, including video recording, visual observation and surveys parameters which will be used for the comparison could include percent late arrivals (pedestrians who clear the crosswalk after the end of the countdown timer), percent late departures (pedestrians who enter the crosswalk with insufficient time to cross), number of vehicle/pedestrian conflicts (cases where drivers with the right of way are forced to brake early or are unable to accelerate when possible due to pedestrians). This project will also evaluate Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS, also known as audible pedestrian signals). APS is used to assist the visually impaired in crossing the street. Crossings where APS is installed will be evaluated for enhanced pedestrian safety and pedestrian satisfaction.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:49:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1229829</guid>
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