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Tuesday, March 10. 2009
 I bet you thought they made stuff up for Yes, Minister.
«The pelican crossing was the first definitive light controlled crossing in the UK, introduced in 1969, after the earlier failed experiment of the panda crossing. Previously only zebra crossings had been used, which have warning signals (Belisha beacons), but no control signals. The pedestrian lights are situated on the far side of the road to the pedestrian. A puffin crossing has the lights on the same side as the pedestrian; a toucan crossing is a crossing for pedestrians and bicycles; a pegasus crossing allows horse-riders to cross as well. A HAWK beacon, used experimentally in the USA with a standard pedestrian crossing signal, stops traffic when a pedestrian pushes a button to cross, but goes dark unless activated.» —Wikipedia
In North America, crosswalks that have been adapted for the blind chirp when it is safe to cross east and west, and cuckoo for north and south.
«Legally speaking, crosswalks exist at all normal intersections, even if they are not marked. Some states, such as California, have pedestrian safety laws requiring cars to stop for pedestrians in both marked and unmarked crosswalks.»
«To gain the right-of-way in some parts of Canada, the pedestrian holds out his hand in a position much like that used to shake hands, and steps off the curb.»
«In Britain, different colours of tactile paving indicate busier crossings; yellow is a less-busy crossing, red a more major crossing.»
—Wikipedia
Alternatives exist in skyways like that of Calgary, Alberta's "+15 Walkway" system which has a total length of 16 km (10 miles), and underground cities, the most famous of which may be Montreal's RÉSO, used by more people than any other locale and the largest underground city network in the world, and Toronto's PATH, which according to Guinness World Records is the largest underground shopping complex in the world with 371,600 square metres of retail space.
«In Berlin, several buildings on the east side of Friedrichstraße, from Quartier 205 (Friedrichstraße 70) northwards up to Galerie Lafayette are connected to each other. Businesses are on both sides of that underground street so that it appears to be inside a building all the time, even when it crosses Taubenstraße underground. There are also various underground remnants of the planned city of Germania dating from the 1930s, including an extensive U-Bahn station.»
—Wikipedia, Wikipedia
Now playing:
Maryam Mursal — Hamar (the big city)
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