Puffin crossing

A puffin crossing control panel

A puffin crossing (its name derived from the phrase "pedestrian user-friendly intelligent"[1]) is a type of pedestrian crossing in use in the United Kingdom.

The design is distinct from the older pelican crossing in that the lights signalling to the pedestrians are on the same side of the road as the pedestrian, rather than across the road. From 2016, pelican crossings began to be phased out in the United Kingdom, to be replaced with puffin crossings.

They have two sensors on top of the traffic lights (pedestrian crossing detector; PCD, and pedestrian kerb detector; PKD). These sensors detect if pedestrians are crossing slowly and can hold the red traffic light longer if needed. If a pedestrian presses the button but then walks off, the PKD will cancel the request making the lights more efficient.

  1. ^ O'Flaherty, Coleman; Bell, Michael G. H. (1997). Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-340-66279-3.