The residents of Oak Park are lucky to live in a dense, urban, highly walkable and transit-connected community. And Oak Parkers take advantage of that walkability. Survey results from the Vision Zero planning process indicate that 90% of respondents walk at least weekly, and Oak Park sees more pedestrian activity than many parts of Chicago.
Unfortunately, our transportation infrastructure includes one car-centric feature that is not found on any Chicago intersection: the pedestrian push button, or its more colorful (and frankly more illustrative) term: the Beg Button.
Beg buttons require pedestrians to press a button to trigger a walk signal at an intersection. These buttons prioritize cars over pedestrians, posing risks especially to vulnerable groups like the elderly, children, and people with disabilities. Beg buttons penalize people for walking by:
1. Delaying the ability to cross. Beg buttons often result in long wait times for pedestrians and a lack of clarity on when they can expect to be given “permission” to cross.
2. Increasing safety risk. Beg buttons that are broken or don’t activate while cars have a green light create confusion for both pedestrians and cars, increasing the likelihood of accidents.
3. Creating access challenges. Beg buttons are challenging to access, not just for people with disabilities, but anyone whose ability to access the button is compromised, whether one is pushing a stroller, carrying groceries, or navigating rain or snow.
Legally, pedestrians have the right of way, yet cars are the ones who benefit from clear and automated signaling while the burden of safety is placed on the person not surrounded by two tons (and increasingly three, four and five tons) of protective metal.
At a minimum, we should at least provide pedestrians with the same clarity and automation we provide cars. Oak Park could easily turn these buttons off and have the walk sign illuminate automatically with the green light, just as it does all across Chicago, whether it’s a busy downtown intersection or a quiet residential neighborhood.
How do we know this? Because the village turned them off in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. While its intention was to limit shared touching of surfaces, it was a boon to the increasing number of walkers looking to spend more time outside. What a disappointment when they were eventually reactivated.
But we can do more than the bare minimum. Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) are an emerging best practice for pedestrian safety. LPIs give pedestrians a head start of a few seconds to begin crossing the street before vehicles get a green light to turn. LPIs significantly increase visibility and reduce conflicts between pedestrians and turning vehicles. Meanwhile, studies show that LPIs can reduce pedestrian-vehicle collisions by up to 60%. LPIs are a low-cost modification that could be easily programmed into the existing signaled intersections. Chicago is increasingly implementing LPIs; cross Austin Boulevard, and you’ll see them all over the West Side.
We are in the midst of a national pedestrian safety crisis. Cars and trucks are getting bigger and heavier, and drivers are more aggressive and more distracted than ever. It is an unsettling time to be a pedestrian. If Oak Park is really committed to eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries through the Vision Zero initiative, it needs to use every tool in its toolkit to do so. Telling beg buttons to “Beg Off” is a great start.
Learn more about Vision Zero Oak Park and how you can make your voice heard at: https://engageoakpark.com/visionzero.
Bike Walk Oak Park (BWOP) is a volunteer advocacy group of Oak Park residents who work toward the fair and safe use of friendly streets by all our neighbors who walk, roll, ride and drive. To learn more, visit www.bikewalkoakpark.org.
Nicole Chavas of Oak Park, wrote this on behalf of Bike Walk Oak Park.
