Crosswalker

Project Description

A service design to help disabled pedestrians safely cross streets

Problem

The crosswalk infrastructure at Abbot Kinney is inherently ableist. To trek across streets in time, disabled pedestrians are forced to wait in the road, push their own wheelchairs, and hurt themselves by walking too fast.

Insights

Pedestrians with disabilities want to feel safe crossing streets without wearing extra baggage or giving their attention anywhere besides the road. Their anxiety largely comes from running out of time - impatient cars often honk or creep forward when these pedestrians walk too slowly, but they can’t speed up! For those who lack full bodily mobility, accessing and pressing the crosswalk button can be a big hassle. The best solution is hands-free.

Solutions

We designed a smart city system. Through bluetooth, the Crosswalker app communicates with sensors embedded in sidewalk corners to give pedestrians extra time to cross. This hands-free solution bypasses the need for crosswalk buttons, and it discreetly adds extra time to the traffic system only when disabled pedestrians are present.