Liverpool City Council has organised the ‘UK’s first nudge-behaviour trial’ for a new style pedestrian crossing.
The eye-catching designs were installed at two collision hot-spots, at Hanover Street in the city centre and the Old Swan area of Liverpool, in a trial which ran for two weeks during October.
Liverpool was chosen to host the trial, along with Hull, as it has one of the UK’s highest rates of adult deaths or serious injuries (KSIs) for pedestrian collisions – at 99 per 100,000 people.
The Hanover Street location, one of the UK’s most dangerous pedestrian crossings, saw the introduction of the ‘Compli Crossing’, inspired by pop-art and featuring a series of multi-coloured ‘nudges’.
The second site at Old Swan deployed a ‘faster boarding’ system – intended to make the crossing more noticeable to people who are looking to get to where they are going in the most direct way possible. Crossing wait times were also reduced to give pedestrians priority over cars.
The innovative designs were created by So-Mo, a behavioural science company based in the North West, following an in-depth study into pedestrian behaviour in the urban environment.
The trial was awarded a grant from the Road Safety Trust, with additional funding from Merseyside Road Safety Partnership.
Councillor Dan Barrington, Liverpool City Council, said: “One in five of all adult pedestrian casualties (in Liverpool) happens close to pedestrian crossings.
“These colourful crossings are looking at the whole picture – the environment, location and behaviour. I look forward to seeing the results of the trials and whether they change the public’s approach to the crossings.”
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