Question
Is it pointless to press the button for a pedestrian or cyclist traffic light?
Answer
Mostly no.
Explanation
At Undeceivers, we've been told by multiple people in casual conversation that traffic lights for pedestrians don't actually do anything. Is that true?
The unsatisfying truth is that it depends.
It depends on the type of crossing, the traffic volume, the time of day, and even on reasons not directly related to the traffic.
A summary for a few select countries:
Netherlands: most traffic lights for pedestrians and cyclists are 'on demand', pressing the button adds you to the schedule, cyclists are usually (but not always) already detected through a magnetic field in the cycling path
United Kingdom: only around 20-40% of traffic lights are on an automated programme, at very busy crossings pedestrians might not need to press because they're put on a timer or must press to avoid being skipped, depending on location
United States: the vast majority of buttons do work, with least response at particularly busy times or in particularly busy locations (in New York only roughly 10% of buttons for pedestrian traffic lights are functional)
In other words, there's nothing silly about pressing the button to make sure you're in the rotation.
What categorically does not help anywhere is pressing the button multiple times, or pressing it for longer, or expecting that pressing the button makes the light the next one to go green.
Sources
BBC News, 'Does pressing the pedestrian crossing button actually do anything?', 4 September 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23869955, (accessed 22 January 2024)
Bloomberg, 'Ask CityLab: Do ‘WALK’ Buttons Actually Do Anything?', 2 September 2015, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-02/do-pedestrian-push-to-walk-buttons-actually-work, (accessed 22 January 2024)
CNN, 'Illusion of control: Why the world is full of buttons that don’t work', 3 September 2018, https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/placebo-buttons-design/index.html, (accessed 22 January 2024)
de Volkskrant, 'Oversteekknoppen, de dagelijkse illusie van controle', 24 September 2016, https://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/oversteekknoppen-de-dagelijkse-illusie-van-controle~b6cf71d8/, (accessed 22 January 2024)
EenVandaag, 'Drukknoppen bij verkeerslichten zitten er niet voor niks: 'Daar gaan gemeenten niet voor betalen', 25 May 2021, https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/drukknoppen-bij-verkeerslichten-zitten-er-niet-voor-niks-daar-gaan-gemeenten-niet-voor-betalen/, (accessed 22 January 2024)
Het AD, 'Waarom fietsers bij verkeerslichten soms onnodig op de knop drukken', 2 January 2022, https://www.ad.nl/auto/waarom-fietsers-bij-verkeerslichten-soms-onnodig-op-de-knop-drukken~ac50450c/, (accessed 22 January 2024)
indebuurt Utrecht, 'Heeft 't zin of niet: vaker drukken op de knop van een stoplicht?', 15 April 2021, https://indebuurt.nl/utrecht/nieuws/verkeer/heeft-t-zin-of-niet-vaker-drukken-op-de-knop-van-een-stoplicht~190492/, (accessed 22 January 2024)
The Conversation, 'Does pushing the ‘walk’ button help you cross the street faster? A transport engineer weighs in', 26 June 2018, https://theconversation.com/does-pushing-the-walk-button-help-you-cross-the-street-faster-a-transport-engineer-weighs-in-98886, (accessed 22 January 2024)
The Journal, 'Explainer: Do pedestrian crossing buttons actually work?', 3 August 2014, https://www.thejournal.ie/pedestrian-crossings-button-1598862-Aug2014/, (accessed 22 January 2024)
Traffic Signal Timing Manual, 27 April 2021, https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08024/chapter5.htm, (accessed 22 January 2024)