Any traffic lights experts out there?

[James Barber]

I've finally obtained TfL traffic light documentation for the area after an FOI appeal.

Any traffic light experts out there who can explain what it all means?

This comes from obersving traffic lights where the pedestrian phases werent green as long as they could be. TfL then got clammy about us finding more.

[dbboy]

James - why not speak with one of the council officers in traffic, surely they would understand terminology.

[Burbage]

Not an expert, but I've read a bit and I'll have a look if you like.

This page is a repository of all the DfT rules and regulations on puffin crossings, which TfL should be abiding by. The Good Practice Guide from 2006 (the fifty one down) is probably your best bet in terms of clarity (p.24 gives the timings). The rules are, however, complicated, especially where there's 'pedestrian detection' involved, and there's a lot of allowable variability.

The take-home message is that the green signal for pedestrians (the "invitation to cross"), can be as short as 4 seconds, and the traffic should remain stopped for at least a second after that. This latter time is variable, and if the detector reckons there are pedestrians on the crossing, it will allow up to 12 seconds in total, after which the traffic will start again regardless.