RRFBs. HAWK signals. Do any of these devices actually do what they’re supposed to do, and how do traffic engineers decide when and where to install them?
As a European, much of this was mind-boggling to me. While I believe all of this is real, I still found myself wondering throughout the video: Is this actually the norm in the US, or are these some cherry-picked bad examples? It felt for me like a whole other level of systemic hostility.
HAWK really confused me. Why not just put a regular light at the pedestrian crossing? Why build a similar, but ultimately unfamiliar array of lights instead?
Because there’s a market for companies to sell bullshit like this. Cities are looking for solutions to make it look like they’re doing something, without actually taking any space from cars.
Being visible and weird is the point. Doing something isn’t. They’re selling a service of providing the appearance of “innovation” to municipal streets departments.