Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the potential merits of lowering the assumed walking speed of 1.2 metres per second used for calculating crossing times for pedestrians; and if he will publish the findings of that assessment.

Local councils are responsible for setting pedestrian crossing timings with reference to the Department for Transport’s guidance walking speed of 1.2 metres per second given in Local Transport Note 1/95: ‘The Assessment of Pedestrian Crossings’, Local Transport Note 2/95: ‘The Design of Pedestrian Crossings’, and Traffic Advisory Leaflet 5/05: ‘Pedestrian Facilities at Signal-controlled Junctions’.

The Department recommends that where a crossing may be used by a large number of older people or those with mobility issues, for example outside residential care homes, this should be taken into account when setting timings.

The Department expects to bring the successor to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions, which will include all pedestrian crossing types, into force in 2015 and once that is complete will consider the need to update existing guidance.