Hello Copenhagener friends!
I regularly visit Copenhagen but I can never wrap my head around how the pedestrian crossings work.
Back in Sweden we have buttons that are push to cross, but I haven't seen a single push to cross button yet in Copenhagen.
Please enlighten me? It confuses me a lot.
okay that makes sense, they threw me off because of the lack of a button, never seen one without a button
Maybe the Danes got tired of hearing people pushing the buttons over and over again. Grew up in Malmö and my best friend had to push the button either 7 or 21 times before crossing the road 😂
For real
Yes, she had this thing with having to push the same amount of times as the number her favourite football players had.
I can tell you that you need to wait for 3 red/green cycles before being able to reach 21. Though she would only go for 21 if she surpassed 7 by mistake.
There's a bunch of crossing with beg buttons as well. Maybe less so in the center but in places where its mostly only cars pedestrians get buttons to press.
You can only walk on the stripes. If you touch the gaps, you will die.
Is this urgent?!? Are you stuck on the wrong side of the road and is unable to cross? Do you have water and food???
No I am stranded please help me
I usually try to sneak up on the crosswalk to not startle it, then bolt out quickly into the road unexpectedly.
true pedestrian behavior
You have to give us Skåne back before we will answer!
i am in skåne!
Most of the signals in Copenhagen have been updated, so the buttons have been removed and a camera is installed which registers if there are any waiting at the crossing.
This system is installed in traffic controlled signals. Time controlled signals don't have buttons or camera's.
Thank you
What do you mean? They work like everywhere else. You wait for the green light and then you cross.
we have buttons here
You still have to wait, buttons or no buttons.
What makes it tick? How does it know I’m waiting
There's like 2 places in Copenhagen where you have to push to cross.
hence why i have never seen one
I can never wrap my head around how the pedestrian crossings work.
Seriously, what is your question? You don't know how to cross the street? How they work? You already know how it works, right? Without the button.
It's not uncommon in Sweden to have crossings that won't turn green unless you actually push it. Different systems.
I've noticed there's also some weight-triggered lights in Copenhagen (in two places that I know of) that don't trigger if you're not the weight of a car, so rather poor for cyclists since they don't even get a button.
precisely this
No that is what I am asking, what makes them tick? Why does the man turn green when he does? Over here I just push a button then the man turns green in due time
Most Danes get a DLRNFC chip implated when they receive their first passport. Instead of a button, the crossings have a far reaching version of NFC chip reader installed.
They also have the usual tourist sensors installed and in Copenhagen they will assume that non-danes are Swedes. Thus, only allow crossing of the street when possible to zig-zag between cars that stopped at least 30 seconds.
Hope it makes sense and stay safe out there ☺️
Yes!
We used to have “push to walk”. We still have, outside of the city. But they are very unhygienic and not all that accessible or functional. So most places have a motion sensor, some are just preset.
that makes sense
Close your eyes, walk and hope for the best.
Geronimo
Automatic. I live close to one of the few that actually has a button. The first couple of times I used the crossing I just stood there waiting and couldn’t understand why the damn light didn’t change 😅
You seem the kind of a person who would be stranded if the escalator went out of order.
Also, you would definitely not survive the apocalypse
I want to know what makes them tick, not how to use them!
How does it work?
Erh... you wait. And when the light turns green, you walk.
I thought this was the simplest of tasks. You don't have to do anything.
All the swedes are meticulously investigating the lights, never able to cross any roads.
too busy thinking about how to swedeify them
Slightly related—I often found that when I had the green man and was already walking across the road that a car would try and turn right across the stripes. Is this allowed?
I thought the right turn on red was purely an American thing. I did mention it in the office and they just said to be assertive, keep walking and hope you don't get squashed!!
If you're walking in the same direction as the car before it started turning right, it has the green light (usually). Green for pedestrians does not mean red for everyone else, but they do have the right of way, meaning no car should be in the same 'section' of cross walk when you cross.
in my experience if a car is trying to turn he's running the red he has if you have a greenl ight to go. no turn on red.
They’re either automatic (reading traffic) or pre set. So you just walk up to the curb and wait for it to turn green :)