WalkSydney

Former committee member Josephine here: Moving to Canada, I thought I’d be living in a sustainable transport advocate’s nightmare, surrounded by oversized utes and bloated highways. The deadly vehicles certainly exist, and the 401 freeway has a section with 18 lanes, but overall I’ve been surprised by how pleasant it is to walk around inner Toronto. (I’m living about 2km from the centre of downtown, in a ‘Newtown-like’ area, and have probably walked 100km over the city so far). I’ve noticed a few simple differences that make walking more appealing and that I wish we had in Sydney.

Here in Toronto, side street crossings usually either have a zebra or a plain crosswalk like this:

These are very common, occurring most times a footpath crosses a lower-priority road. But even when markings are absent, pedestrians have right of way over cars turning in to the lower-priority road, cars turning out, and cars proceeding straight across. This is due to a simple legal difference: cars must give way to pedestrians anywhere the cars are facing a STOP or YIELD (equivalent to ‘give way’) sign, line or situation, as well as at marked crossings and traffic lights.

Contrast to the messy situation in NSW, previously illustrated by WalkSydney:

In NSW, even where drivers do have to give way (turning into the lower-priority road), many drivers don’t know this, and pedestrians tend to stay safe and wait for gaps instead – sometimes for a long time.

Finally, pedestrian signals at traffic lights are done as WalkSydney has been asking for for years : the light stays ‘green’ (white here) as long as possible, only flashing red when necessary at the end of the phase. And they have leading pedestrian intervals.

It is not all rosy in Ontario of course. Although pedestrians have good priority at intersections, mid-block controlled pedestrian crossings are quite rare. Where they do exist they seem to be poorly observed, despite often being equipped with an array of flashing lights like in the below picture. I often don’t feel very safe crossing these, and I’ve seen other pedestrians standing at them waiting for gaps or unsure what to do.

In Sydney, mid-block zebra crossings are taken seriously by the majority of drivers. One key difference is that either they have zebra paint, or they have the same traffic signals and road markings as street intersection traffic signals. Both convey seriousness and consistency. Another is that in Sydney, unsignalised zebra crossings are never used on multi-lane roads, only 1 lane each way at most, whereas in Ontario they may be up to three lanes one-way or two lanes two ways. Sticking to single lanes ensures better visibility for drivers and reduces the time you are exposed to traffic as a pedestrian using them.

So, what I think Ontario does better: high levels of pedestrian priority at street intersections, both unsignalised through the use of painted crosswalks, and signalised through the allocation of excess green time to pedestrians. This seems to have created a driving culture where drivers are ready to give way to pedestrians at any intersection where they are giving way to cars, even where it’s a bit ambiguous (I still don’t really understand 4 way stops but I walk through them anyway).

What I think NSW does better: mid-block pedestrian crossings. They are more consistent, whether with traffic signals or zebra paint, never installed on excessively wide streets (or kerb build-outs are used) and better observed.

My overall conclusion is the importance of simple, consistent road rules, eg: “give way to pedestrians anywhere you are giving way to other cars” for creating a driving culture that respects pedestrians, and where I feel trust in drivers to look out for pedestrians and follow the rules. In NSW, even the presence of relatively expensive infrastructure like continuous footpath treatments doesn’t fill me with as much confidence as I have when crossing side streets in Toronto.