Why Australia’s Crosswalk Buttons are the Best (ft. Billie Eilish) 

The amount of forward, roundhouse or flying kicks these receive on a daily basis and still manage to outlive a typical Australian's lifespan is also a testament to its design.

The whole part where he didn't want to patent his design so that it could be available as widely as possible for as low a cost as possible - legend!

In Slovakia we have same sound for crosswalk, but we have one better feature for disable people. There is an 3d schema of crossing, that you can feel how many basic traffic lines and most importantly tram lines you will cross. So disabled people can prepare for rails and wide street.

As an Aussie, I forget that it's a relatively unique thing, I'm just so used to it, I would miss it if it was not there

One thing you missed is that the “Peww” noise is at such a pitch that guide dogs react very strongly to it. We used to raise guide dog pups and when we did city visits their ears stood straight up when they heard the “peww” noise. Must be like a dog whistle.

The internal engineering in these things is amazing as well, they are impervious to rain, traffic accidents that destroy the pole barely scratch them and the button mechanism totally protects the internal electrical switch from kicking abuse. The weakest part is the actual bolts holding the button to the pole.

That’s how you pick out a fellow Aussie when you’re waiting to cross a pedestrian crossing overseas - all the Aussies have a slight delay until they realise everyone else has started walking. We subconsciously pay more attention to the noise than the man changing from red to green. Crazy how embedded that noise has become in us!

There aren't many things I get patriotic about, but the PB/5, polymer banknotes, and the Australian Consumer Law I can get behind.

It was so good, we copied it and used it in Ireland. the solution for contactless buttons that we settled on in Ireland was a PB/5 varient with a proximity sensor opposite the small red light. Just hold your hand (or anything) near the sensor and the lights are queued

Any button that can withstand a flying leg kick from a 15 year old is a good design in my book. Edit: oh wow didn't realise a little girl designed an actual kick me button. Awesome.

I never knew that Melbourne's crosswalk buttons were more 'clicky' compared to Sydney's more 'boppy' sounds.

As an Australian I thought this was how crosswalks always we’re everywhere, also I didn’t know that it made a constant beeping sound i thought it turned off, really shows how well engineered they are.

As someone who grew up in Australia, it’s strange how much I’ve taken these things for granted all my life. It was only when I watched an episode of _Arthur_ on RU-vid - namely, one of the episodes with the blind girl - where someone in the comments pointed out that they live near a pedestrian crossing where there’s a lot of older people with vision problems in the area, so the crossing makes a beeping sound. (They mentioned this because it comes up in the episode.) And I was like, “Wait… they don’t all do that?”

This is the weirdest way I've been proud to be an Australian.

We use the PB5 in Dublin, and yeah, they are noticeably better than other crossing buttons!

When I was a kid growing up in New Zealand, I used to hold my hand on the button just to feel it jolt when it turned green, completely unaware it served any purpose.

Here in Singapore we've been using this PB/5 design too since around the start of this millennium (replacing older smaller buttons mounted on a cuboid attached to the traffic light) but the button's arrow never points up/downwards here, & we use a flashing green instead of a flashing red man. The sound is also switched off at night due to complaints about their noise by nearby residents. Additionally the buttons for pedestrian crossings used by more senior citizens e.g. in towns with more of them have a card reader above them that lights up the green man for longer if you tap a senior citizen EZ-Link (our public transport stored-value) card on it. We had one crossing in downtown at the junction of Bras Basah Rd & Bencoolen St though that's switched off between 7-11a.m. & 5-9p.m. though (meaning you could never change the red man to green even if you pressed the button)

The fact that a kid invented a kickable version is hilarious to me, because I've been kicking those things for years, and everyone told me I was weird. But nooo, once you put it to a reasonable kicking height, suddenly the same idea is "brilliant" and "innovative". I kid. Good on this girl for taking this thing that I'm sure everyone's done at least once, and making it practical.

I love how hard she dug that sound. Billies like: "This shit is fire"

meanwhile in Europe... they've had buttons with all kinds of good designs since 1868...

So proud of Louis Challis' choice not to patent. Making the decision to not make a fat stack of cash to benefit people with sensory problems around the world. What a guy.

Singapore has this exact model of crosswalk button and it even sounds exactly the same! Didn't know they originated from Australia. I'm glad we adopted such a neat tech!

Honestly, I had no idea that different countries had different designs for this. It’s just so intuitive and perfect that I can’t imagine using another design.

1:52 he declined the patent so others can have it cheaper, WOW respect.

a funny unintended side effect is when the 'clicker' breaks it just goes absolutely wild lol. like those things can go *FAST*. Think 'through the fire and the flames' fast but faster.

We don't have crosswalk buttons in my country, I actually didn't know they were a thing until now, and I just think it's funny that you have such an amazing system and take it for granted.

2:03 *Talking about how good Australian cross walks are Some random dude: Just walks across without pressing the button

As a student of design I never thought about this. So awesome. The best designs are the ones we don't realise are perfect just because we think that's the way things should be.

As an Aussie, I can confirm the PB/5 is 100% the best crosswalk button.

We have the PB/5s in Singapore and I've always thought they sounded awesome. Thanks Australia!

“The best thing to come out of Australia” Wifi: Am I a joke too you?

so in Germany these things click when red shows and beep when green shows. Although it doesn't look like it, we too have an arrow, and one added feature. So when you're at a crossing you don't always need the visual impaired signals to ring. So when you touch the touch button normally it will just work for seeing people. On the bottomside though is another button you can press. This will activate the audible signals. This button is also the arrow. there is a triangle extruded from the button's base plane. This triangle is as tall as the button is large but very narrow, thus forming an arrow which is very easy to make out which direction it's pointing.

We use similar buttons in New Zealand, but there is one important difference with their implementation. In Australia, the man flashes red and then stays red, while in New Zealand, the man turns off after a short delay and only lights up again when the button is pressed. This gives a visual signal that someone has already pressed the button. This is handy because we don't need to rush to the next intersection to trigger the crossing if we know someone has already done it. The only negative with this design is the buttons are plastic and won't take much abuse. When they break, you're left with a small inner stem that requires a finger to press.

The way billie describes how she found the button sound in Sydney is so good

We need more things like this around the world! When I was in Japan, I was really impressed that the crosswalks do a little chirp sound as it’s safe to walk. When I came back home to the US, I was a little sad that we didn’t have anything like this cuz it was quite useful! We gotta collectively start wanting these and then maybe all our countries that don’t have this kind of thing will know there’s actually a demand and reason for them!

Yoo my favourite thing about the design is there’s a slight flaw, in that they condition people to walk when they hear the sound, so if two are next to each other and you hear the sound, you walk forward even tho the lights red.

We have them in Nz, didn't realize that they were so good.

I always use my knee to use crossing buttons and these are definitely the most comfortable ones I ever used!

You don’t have to use your hands to push the button. It’s so light weight and large that I’ve used my elbow, my knee, my butt and sometimes my head just to see if it was possible.

They’re also an export! I was travelling in Dublin, Ireland and was blown away to find the exact, exact, exact same PB/5 buttons at their pedestrian crossings! My British friends couldnt quite understand why I was so excited about it

I live in the Philippines and first saw these in some of the urban cross walks about a decade ago. At the time I didn't make much of it, other than appreciating how huge and satisfying the button was. I even had a running joke with a friend that because of how overt and huge the button was, it wasn't probably hooked up to anything inside, and was more of a pedestrian placebo (infrastructure and civil works here fluctuate wildly in terms of reliability and integrity). Nice to learn about where the design came from.

We rely so heavily on the auditory cue! You’ll see people on their phones waiting and stagger forward a little before looking up to see if it’s actually their light that changed!

I remember travelling in Hawaii with my partner and every time we crossed the road it was so eerily quiet so it just became a thing that i would make the noise myself whenever we had to cross.

We have these in Dublin Ireland too, during covid some of them have been updated to include a contactless sensor that you wave your hand infront of to activate it without needing to touch the button. A nice update, really does tick all the boxes

When I first arrived in Hawaii I was walking around I kept missing the crossing cue? Because there was none. I spent a lot of time wondering how vision impaired people would survive. Soon I saw all vision impaired people needed a carer just to get around. They also have no blind man bumps for stairs or footpath exits. I never would have imagined something like that could go overlooked in a first world country. But America does not have these services

Wow - I had no idea this is an Aussie thing - really proud. And all respect to Louis Challis for passing up a patent.

These button are great piece of art, and the good thing is that they are implemented in smart way in Sydney by automating crossing during busy hours, giving priority to those who are on foot. Generally, buttons are good on streets, where there are few pedestrians, and the traffic speed is high, but on central streets, it is absolutely senseless to force someone push the button while there are always people gathered to cross the streets. Unfortunately, in most countries of the world the priority is still given to motorized vehicles, and you are forced to use buttons every time you need to cross it, no matter location and time, but luckily, this paradigm is slowly shifting towards pedestrian-oriented street design. A good example is Paris' recent traffic reform. Every city should follow their approach.

It seems strange to think that the everyday things we take for granted were actually developed with much thought involved. You definitely bring new meaning to the things we take for granted.

The original sound is from NSW and has more “boop” audio on both red light and green light. They were first seen around Burwood, Sydney near the NSW Blind Society. No pun intended.

Her reaction to the crossing sound has me weak 🤣🤣 I'm American living in Aus and I really dig it too lol

I use these regularly here in Adelaide, South Australia. Never realised the significance of them -- though I was aware many places don't have the audible sound. As someone that is perfectly able, I still use the sound. If I'm speaking to someone else and not watching the light, I still know exactly when it's green.

“One of the best design things to ever come out of Australia (a pedestrian button)” Ahhh yes, one of our greatest successes in this country is to provide an aid for people to cross a road

As a fellow Melbournian and lover of all things history I just wanna say awesome videos mate!! Only recently discovered your channel but have already binge watched all your videos because they're seriously entertaining 😊

I remember being in New Zealand and noticed some of the crosswalks had a slightly different walk jingle for the East-West crossing to the North-South crossing. Thought it was a neat feature.

The unbelievable feeling of nostalgia when I was in Dublin and found the button was exactly the same as the ones from home in Brisbane was brilliant

I never thought this much about it. Having lived in Australia almost all my life and never had to use one anywhere else that I can recall, The walk sound is very useful for bikes too, as sometimes you are fixing pedals, handle bars, maybe even bell position etc.

Me and my friends used to wander around at the early mornings during holidays in school, and there's an amazing ambience to a foggy, totally abandoned intersection at 3am with the regular bips echoing down the street.

I cannot believe that it took a child to convince people to put the kick feature in. It makes 100% sense.

This is interested as I've never left Victoria so I kind of always took the crossing buttons for granted, no idea it was a marvel in design.

That sound is one of those things that immediately brings back memories to my Italian brain from when I was living in Straya and it feels so good. Too bad there’s no traffic lights in the countryside, like some intersections in Margaret River could really use some of those

It's a simple mechanical design. Essentially a relay that turns on and off at a certain frequency. We investigated how it works at an electromechanical course at uni. Fascinating how simple it is.

As an Australian I never realised how good the pedestrian crossing buttons are. Like the sound isn't annoying and is actually helpful. Visually it's fine. It's become a staple of commuting anywhere. And most impressive, it can handle dozens of flying kicks from teenagers everyday.

What’s fun about the PB/5 is that the clicking is often made using an electromagnet that actually *kicks* a metal flap. While it’s not as flexible as a speaker, it’s simple, cheap, and rather reliable. Most US crosswalks now use similar buttons (they’ve been mandated since the early 2000s), but use a speaker for the nose as the ADA requires a crosswalk signal be able to tell you which street your crossing.

Did you know that these buttons have the earliest form of AI embedded... if you press it repeatedly, the unit will sense you are in a hurry, and change the lights quickly.... ;) (at least that's what I tell myself!)

There’s a set of lights near my friend’s house which don’t make a sound and I never feel comfortable crossing the road there even when I know it’s green.

The ones we have here in Sweden are similar in sound and suck, but instead of featuring just a tactile arrow showing the direction, they have a small tactile model of the crossing, so if you are visually impaired you can "feel" how many lanes you have to cross and from which direction the traffic would be. I think that's pretty neat

We have these in New Zealand too. Never thought much of them but I guess they are pretty neat

Finland has sorted almost everything else out, design wise...but their traffic crossing sounds are inconsistent between districts and even between crossings. The PB/5 is the one thing we have on them in the world of design.

It’s so cool to view your country through the eyes of a tourist. I would have assumed that everyone had these buttons 😂

EDIT: I stand corrected, apparently not all Melbourne ones CLACK, some BIP too. But I what I can say with certainty is that I have never come across a clacker in Sydney, only bippers. The Sydney and Melbourne PB/5 sounds are distinctly different, the former beeps and the latter just clicks. Also the Sydney buttons do not have the little red/green light on the button itself.

I was 14yo kid when I first heard the sound, on his first international trip to Sydney with my mom visiting my sister there. I’m gonna cry now 😢

This model is also used in Ireland - interested to know where else they might be used

They also use these in NZ. Can’t deny the Aussies outdid us on this one

In Germany, there are 2 buttons: 1 underneath for vision impaired to press so that the sound turns on otherwise there is normally no sound.

The same button is used in Dublin (and possibly other places in Ireland) and a lot of them have been outfitted with touchless buttons during Covid-19. One “problem” with the sound is that a lot of inattentive people (e.g looking at their phone) use the “pew” to start crossing, even if it’s only the light in the other direction that went green. Probably a compounding effect is that most pedestrian crosses turn green in both directions at the same time. I always thought making the sound come from across the street, in the direction of the cross, but I didn’t consider noise pollution.

Dublin has the exact same buttons! I mostly rely on the noise so i dont have to squint my eyes looking up at the bright sun or get rain in my face

Learnt something here. I assumed these buttons were one of those international standards. Now, if I ever need a theme to travel the world with it'll be discovering new pedestrian button designs.

The kicking the button I think is a universal thing. Here in the US I’ve used two types of crosswalk button, one (which has none of these features) is just a convex button that you can really nail with anything from your head to your foot and not hurt it. The new ones I don’t like, which have the tactile arrows and sounds but you’ve got to push them pretty hard to get them to activate, and they’re set into a little pocket so you can’t kick them.

The mechanical design of that button is also awesome. I realised I was a proper nerd the day I got super excited to learn about the clever design of this Aussie icon.

I remember when the PB5 first came out one of the first things I said was how good the design is and how nice the sound is so I totally agree that it’s an Australian icon in design

We have these in Ireland as well, specifically the ones at 3:55, even made it into a Versatile song as well

The sound is generated by the Audio tactile driver mounted on a traffic signal pole where the push-button is mounted. The driver is connected to a speaker/transducer in push-button. Fun fact if you damage the metal arrow then the metal arrow cannot be used to vibrate the tone and you will essentially mute it. Despite the automatic adjusting volume, some people will still complain about the noise and after enough complaints, it will be considered that the auto tactile pedestrian facility be turned off (some people have also been known to damage the push-button to "mute" the sound). Thanks for the video. It is good that the simple crosswalk push-button is getting some recognition.

Am i the only one who tries to press the button in time with the beeping noise when you're waiting to cross? So fun.

I hear you .. and I agree (now you've pointed it out) that it's an amazing bit of hardware and sound design. However, in 1982 I was impressed with Japans sound system because they used bird twitter and it was different for each crossing at a cross road. It meant that (and this happens in Melbourne) you couldn't mess up which light was green, yours - with starling song, or theirs with robin tweets. I do get caught stepping off on the wrong cross walk, while listening for the green light.

Interesting video. As a Melbourne local, it'd never even crossed my mind that how our crosswalk buttons would work compared to the rest of the worlds. It's just one of those things you take for granted and never really think about I suppose.

I can't believe you made a video on this! One of my memories from living in Australia is actually the sound of these crosswalks! Amazing!

I had a pedestrian crossing down the street from my home which was on a quiet little road off a main street. During the day the ambient noise drowned out the crossing beepers but, at night, during a still, windless and low traffic night these sounds still into your brain. Especially when they are set to repeat in a traffic signal cycle. I kid you not...I thought of a few ways to destroy these things while lying in bed hearing the cycle repeating hundreds of times. I do believe they are an amazingly clever des8gn and I remember when they were initially rolled out. There were some models which included a small panel on the arrow for a slight electric pulse to alert the blind and deaf of the change of signal. I used to love feeling that pulsing. Super cool!!

Would've been nice if you'd called them 'pedestrian crossings' seeing as you were taking about an Australian crossing button, instead of the American 'crosswalk'. I'd also liked to have heard about some other buttons from around the world and what makes ours so much better.

Ours in New Zealand are basically the same except we've got nicer sounds. I've never really thought about how well-designed it is

Most countries I've visited have visual, audio and tactile feedback on their pedestrian crossings.

When we were little everytime we crossed a road with one of them we would literally not stop tapping it until it went green or our Mum told us to stop.

Usually these things are at slightly above waist level for me, so I've gotten in to the habit of striking the button with my knee to save hand-transmission.

Crosswalks near me: - Tactile buttons in direction of cross - Button vibrates when it is time to cross - beeping when you should wait or not start crossing - Voice line "[Street name] - walk sign is on to cross" (repeats until continue crossing) - Holding button: voice line "Wait to cross [Street name] at [cross street]" - once button is pressed, the led is illuminated. it will speak "Wait"

Although the Melbourne buttons are superior in their casing, having the red indicator and more of them having the tactile arrow, I still contest that the Sydney beep is better than the Melbourne clack. It just sounds better, and also changes pitch between walk and don't-walk

This design/sound is so amazing that the sound was made into another song called 'Crossing Lights' after Giuseppe Ottaviani heard it during a visit to Melbourne 6-7 years ago.

They have ones that are touch free in front of the royal children’s hospital, haven’t seen them anywhere else but its so cool!! you just wave your hand past it and it even lights up

Those light-up, non-slip pads are pretty awesome. In the chill months, when my glasses are fogged up (because wearing a mask), they are way easier to see than the light on the other side of the street. Also, that idea for kick-buttons is brilliant.

You missed the bit about how the red light on it tells you whether it's been triggered or not! That's my favourite part, no need to click the button if someone has already :)

Julian, you forgot to mention that the most important feature of these new PB/5 buttons is that they cannot be damaged (easily). Before these metal buttons, we had the ones with plastic buttons and they kept breaking all the time. The PB/5 buttons were designed so that the button can be pushed numerous or even kicked without breaking the mechanism inside.

My old house had a pb5 at an intersection almost 1klm away. I could hear it beep on quiet sleepless nights at 3am.