Skip to main content

Siemens delivers pedestrian countdown at traffic signals

Siemens’ new Pedestrian Countdown at Traffic Signals (PCaTS) informs pedestrians how long they have to cross the road after the green man signal has gone out, by providing a visible countdown of the time remaining before the appearance of the red man.
March 18, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

189 Siemens’ new Pedestrian Countdown at Traffic Signals (PCaTS) informs pedestrians how long they have to cross the road after the green man signal has gone out, by providing a visible countdown of the time remaining before the appearance of the red man.

The system is compatible with Siemens’ Helios Traffic c signals and can be specified with a new installation or retrofitted to existing sites (including Peek Elite signals).

It features highly visible double stroke LED digits and is enhanced by the use of a flat lens which is ‘black masked’ to minimise sun phantom reflections. The unit may also be fitted with a small hood to further enhance the sun phantom performance if required.

Once installed, the unit automatically detects the blackout period after two learning cycles of the signals. Timing synchronisation with the blackout period is achieved by direct connections to the red and green signal feeds via isolated input circuits designed to ensure there is no impact on controller lamp or safety monitoring.

These inputs also sense the dim/bright state of the signals to automatically dim the PCaTS unit.

Related Content

  • April 6, 2016
    ‘One-Watt’ traffic signals from Siemens
    Small is big news on the Siemens stand as the company unveils its ultra-low consumption One-Watt technology for traffic lights. The move from incandescent bulbs to 230V LED lamp heads had seen an enormous reduction in power consumption (down from 60Watts per head to around 15W) but means the load resistors and switching elements in the signal units are often the biggest energy consumers.
  • April 14, 2025
    Lidar lets planners see big picture in Chattanooga
    The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is attempting to make its streets safer by using the largest deployment of Lidar-based traffic detection in the US. Adam Hill reports…
  • October 22, 2014
    Using electricity to power road freight
    Next year sees the start of the first real-life electrified road system for transporting freight. Worldwide freight transportation is predicted to double by 2050 but despite expansion of global rail infrastructure only one third of this additional freight transport can be handled by trains. This means that the largest proportion of freight transport will continue to be by road and as a result, experts expect global CO2 emissions from road freight traffic to more than double by 2050.
  • March 6, 2023
    Solar traffic signals from SRL
    SRL Solar Plus product can be retrofitted to existing kit and is available to hire