THE PEDESTRIANS FOR ACCESSIBLE AND SAFE STREETS (PASS) COALITION
URGES LOCAL LAWMAKERS
TO INCREASE STREET SAFETY FOR BLIND PEOPLE
Intro 216 Bill to Amend Local Law
and Increase Number of Intersection Signs Each Year
New York, N.Y. (September 24, 2014) —The Pedestrians for Accessible and Safe Streets (PASS) Coalition is urging the New York City Council Transportation Committee to pass the Intro 216 bill, which would amend a bill passed by City Council in 2012 establishing an Accessible Pedestrian Signals Program (APS) requiring the Department of Transportation to install APS at 25 intersections per year. Intro 216 specifically addresses concerns with the city’s increased use of Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI), Exclusive Pedestrian Phase (EPP) signaling, and protected bicycle lanes without the safeguard of an APS. The bill would increase the number of Accessible Pedestrian Signals or APS installed at intersections across the city to 75 a year beginning in 2015. It also requires that as of January 2015 an APS will accompany all future intersections in which an LPI, EPP, or protected bicycle lane is installed
According to the NYCDOT Sustainable Streets 2013 report, since 2007 New York City has implemented safety design on 137 street corridors and 113 intersections, installed 772 new traffic signals and 241 all-way stop controls, implemented leading pedestrian intervals at 100 intersections to give pedestrians extra time and visibility when crossing the street, and added 39 acres of road that were repurposed for plazas, public seating, refuge islands, painted extensions, medians, and bulb outs. Although widely hailed as engineering tools that reduce accidents and save lives, without APS these measures have an adverse effect on the safety of pedestrians who are blind and visually impaired.
“While these changes have made the streets safer for most New Yorkers, they have actually made the streets less safe for the blind and visually impaired pedestrian” said Annalyn Courtney Barbier, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist of Visions Services for the Blind and PASS Coalition Steering Committee member. “Signalization techniques that provide no traffic sounds when the WALK light goes on, extending curbs and creating pedestrian refuges by painting the streets, have left the blind pedestrian without useful information and less able to travel safely and independently.”
In June, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed 11 bills supporting the City’s Vision Zero initiative. When signing these bills he stated “We have promised the people of this city that we will use every tool we have to make streets safer.” None of the bills signed include strengthening the APS program to correct this inequality. An APS is needed when traffic phases allow pedestrians to cross before the parallel traffic moves - traffic phases such as Leading Pedestrian Intervals, Exclusive Pedestrian Phases or left-turn lanes - or there is little or no traffic to provide the parallel surge that allows a blind person to determine when the WALK phase has started. An APS, usually mounted on a pole near a crosswalk, gives information about pedestrian signals in non-visual formats such as audible tones, verbal messages, and vibrating surfaces. The primary purpose of an APS is to let pedestrians with vision loss (and who may have hearing loss as well) know that the WALK signal is on for a particular crosswalk.
Barbier also states that many devices designed to provide assistance to persons with a specific disability have become useful and accepted by the population at large. Closed captioning was meant for the deaf. Now, no matter how loud or crowded the bar, everyone can understand the news or sportscaster. Curb cuts were designed as an adaptation for wheelchair users. Now people pushing shopping carts and baby carriages assume all street corners will have ramps. Similarly, Accessible Pedestrian Signals can be useful to people with cognitive disabilities and brain injuries who have difficulty focusing on the pedestrian WALK signal while waiting to cross the street. APS can also provide a measure of safety to people distracted by their smartphones.
The PASS Coalition is encouraging city residents across the boroughs to reach out to their City Council representatives and help support the approval of the Intro 216 bill for the visually impaired. PASS is asking city residents to contact them as well, to recommend intersections that may be in need of an APS or if they have questions or problems with an APS currently installed in their neighborhood.
“New York City has a long-standing reputation for being friendly and accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. We’re in danger of losing that reputation, unless we assure that our needs are taken into account whenever irregular signaling patterns are implemented. Right now we are behind cities such as Boston and San Francisco” said Dr. Karen Gourgey Ed.D., Director, Baruch College Computer Center for Visually Impaired People and Chairperson of PASS. “Intro 216 is our way into the promises of Vision Zero.”
For detailed information about Accessible Pedestrian Signals see the website apsguide.org. This website is also linked on the PASS Coalition website (www.passcoalition.org), which provides further information.
About PASS Coalition
The Pedestrians for Accessible and Safe Streets (PASS) Coalition was founded by eleven organizations that represent people from across the disability spectrum, most of which focus on the needs of blind and visually impaired people in New York City. PASS works to ensure that blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind individuals have full access to the streets and sidewalks of New York City and the surrounding boroughs, whether they are residents or visitors to the city. PASS works with stakeholders, local and state legislators, officials, and departments to create safe streets for everyone. PASS now comprises more than 20 state and citywide organizations, including ones that work specifically with blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind New York residents and visitors. The Coalition also includes organizations whose interests lie in ensuring a safer New York for all pedestrians.
For more information about the PASS Coalition or if you wish to request an APS be installed at an intersection in a specific location in your area, please visit www.passcoalition.org.