I love this project -The slow lane: Dutch app allows elderly to 'hack' traffic lights

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/12/dutch-app-elderly-hack-pedestrian-crossings
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The distance from Noud Rommen’s front door to the local shops is just 100 yards, but to get there, the 71-year-old with mobility problems must negotiate a six-lane dual carriageway with a notoriously short pedestrian crossing time.

“If I stick to the rules I can only get to the island halfway across before it turns red, so I have to press the button and wait again,” he says. “But nobody wants to do that, so you try to cut between the traffic. It’s not good, but that’s what happens.”

Since April, however, Rommen has been able to cross the road without dodging cars – with the help of his smartphone. He is one of 10 people in the Dutch city of Tilburg trialling the Crosswalk, an app that gives pedestrians with restricted mobility extra crossing time.

A sensor in the lights constantly scans the pavement on either side of the junction, and if it “sees” Rommen waiting when the button is pressed it adjusts the green-light time. The app comes pre-installed with one of four time settings, depending on the user’s level of mobility, to minimise delays to other traffic.