When and where do you first remember seeing a countdown pedestrian signal?

[KCRoadFan]

For about the last decade-and-a-half or so, pedestrian countdown signals have been very common, but they used to be a lot less frequent - thus, whenever they did occur, they were a lot more noticeable. I seem to remember pretty well where it was that I first saw one - namely, in the Central West End area of St. Louis in 2000.

That being said, when do you remember first seeing a countdown pedestrian signal, and where was it? For that matter, does anyone know where and when the first such signals were installed? I'm interested to hear more.

[hotdogPi]

They've been around pretty much my entire life.

[webny99]

They've been around pretty much my entire life.

Same here. They're becoming more common, but I don't ever remember not seeing them around.

[spooky]

I think it was Congress Street in Boston between City Hall and Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market.

[1995hoo]

First one I ever saw was almost certainly somewhere in downtown DC, but I couldn't tell you which intersection. A Google search found a Washington Post article from June 2003 that says the city started installing them sometime that year, so I assume I first saw them sometime around that timeframe.

[UCFKnights]

The first one I saw was while I was in high school, they upgraded the school intersections first circa 2002 or so here in Florida. They replaced the entire pedestrian head at my school, but some of my friends schools had them retrofit the older style dual head pedestrian signals with a hand/man on the top half, and the countdown on the bottom half which I thought looked so cheesy. If I recall correctly, prior to the retrofit, we also had the text versions, and the symbols.

I'm also curious if this was a thing, or I just imagined it as a kid: prior to the countdown the don't walk started blinking slower the longer it was blinking, as a way to know if it was a "stale" don't walk. Infact, I remember approaching intersections and deciding based off of the speed the text was blinking if I could make it across.

[paulthemapguy]

Wright and Green Streets at the heart of the University of Illinois campus.  This intersection is so important for pedestrians that the signal provides a phase for all pedestrians to cross the street.  It may have been because of this special provision that countdown crosswalks were installed here before I saw them really anywhere else.  I saw this before I attended college there, so this would be the mid-2000s I think.

https://goo.gl/maps/CjLS3Ez8xumQZMfTA

[andrepoiy]

They've been around pretty much my entire life.

Same. It's usually more jarring for me to see one without!

[index]

They've been around pretty much my entire life.

Same. It's usually more jarring for me to see one without!

I've only ever seen one without them, in Boone NC. Doctors Dr and Deerfield Rd.

[kphoger]

I first remember seeing one somewhere near Lake Michigan in Chicago, back in the early 1990s.  I don't recall the exact location with 100% certainty, but my best guess is Congress & Columbus.

[andrepoiy]

An example in Ontario

[jamess]

90s in Brazil

[Pink Jazz]

I think the first ones I seen were in 1996 in Hampton, Virginia. They were of the two head style.

[Quillz]

Vancouver, BC during the 90s. I saw them where I live about a decade later.

[RobbieL2415]

Washington, DC, 2006, while I was on a middle school field trip.

[Pete from Boston]

Probably somewhere in Europe in 1999 or so. What I haven't seen since is a countdown TO a walk phase, which I only remember seeing in DC in 2006.

[SSR_317]

Here in Indy (the HEART of Basketball Country), we call them "Shot Clocks". I cannot recall exactly when or where I first saw one, but I do recall thinking, "Well, THIS is a great idea!", and wondering how long it would take to see them installed everywhere.

To our younger members here who haven't seen any intersections without them, I would recommend a visit to your nearest small, rural town. They tend to be the last areas to get obsolete technology replaced, but not always.

[kphoger]

Here in Indy (the HEART of Basketball Country), we call them "Shot Clocks". I cannot recall exactly when or where I first saw one, but I do recall thinking, "Well, THIS is a great idea!", and wondering how long it would take to see them installed everywhere.

To our younger members here who haven't seen any intersections without them, I would recommend a visit to your nearest small, rural town. They tend to be the last areas to get obsolete technology replaced, but not always.

Or go to Indianapolis.

Hey, look, I picked an intersection completely at random, and it doesn't have a countdown pedestrian signal:  https://goo.gl/maps/t4im47CmN4omTv4j8

[Big John]

^^ It has a white walker on the left.  That means the right side is reserved for the timer.

[kphoger]

^^ It has a white walker on the left.  That means the right side is reserved for the timer.

Indeed, you are correct.  I went back in time and confirmed.  D'oh!

Holy time bomb, Batman, I can't find a single one...

[epzik8]

I believe in northeast Washington, DC. Don't remember the exact intersection.

[roadfro]

For me, my first countdown ped signal was somewhere in Las Vegas. The City of Las Vegas proper was a pretty early adopter, retrofitting many existing signals to use countdowns shortly after MUTCD incorporated them (or perhaps even in the approval process beforehand), and IIRC was the first entity in the Las Vegas area (and perhaps in Nevada) to deploy them on a widespread scale. Countdowns are now ubiquitous across Nevada, installed with all new construction and there's very few older signals that haven't been retrofit to use them if ped heads are present.

[SSR_317]

Here in Indy (the HEART of Basketball Country), we call them "Shot Clocks". I cannot recall exactly when or where I first saw one, but I do recall thinking, "Well, THIS is a great idea!", and wondering how long it would take to see them installed everywhere.

To our younger members here who haven't seen any intersections without them, I would recommend a visit to your nearest small, rural town. They tend to be the last areas to get obsolete technology replaced, but not always.

Or go to Indianapolis.

Hey, look, I picked an intersection completely at random, and it doesn't have a countdown pedestrian signal:  https://goo.gl/maps/t4im47CmN4omTv4j8

I almost said, in addition to my comment (no degradation intended) on rural towns, "or visit any large metropolitan area where the sheer number of intersections with pedestrian signals makes it difficult, from a cost-benefit standpoint, to have countdown signals at every one".