[roadnottaken]

What's an easy way to test if a pedestrian-walk button works? I think this would actually take a lot of work to chart time-to-walk with/without button presses. Elevator door-close buttons would be easier, assuming that the doors is supposed to close immediately after pressing the button.

[jat850]

At least where I live, the non-placebo buttons have an immediate effect - press, and the walk light will change to a blinking don't-walk hand, which then turns to solid as the corresponding traffic light turns yellow/red.

[roadnottaken]

Interesting. Based on your anecdote, I'm pretty sure I've never encountered a functional push-to-walk button...

[necubi]

That's not how it works generally (that only works at low traffic intersections). More typically, the walk button registers that there is a pedestrian wishing to cross, without which the system skips over the pedestrian phase of the traffic cycle. This is less important in big cities where it is assumed there is nearly always a pedestrian waiting to cross, which is presumably why they were disabled in NYC. However, in this mode of operation the only way to test whether the button is functional or not is to not press it and see if a full traffic cycle is completed sans pedestrian crossing.

Incidentally, I worked in a building this summer with a working door-close button in the elevator, and it was immensely satisfying.

[estel]

Here this would only be the case if the traffic had already been flowing for a certain minimum amount of time.

[ghshephard]

Does the Pedestrian Walk signal come on if you _don't_ push the button, I mean, _ever_ - if it doesn't, and then comes on immediately after pushing the button - you've found a working button. It only takes one cycle through the vehicle traffic lights (and zero, obviously, in a pedestrian controlled intersection) to determine which is which.

[LaGrange]

You'd notice. The pedestrian green light wouldn't go green for several cycles of car lights. And, on the other extreme, I've seen lights that go green almost immediately after pressing the button.