People in Bristol are set to benefit from the introduction of what’s been dubbed as the “instant green man” at pedestrian crossings. The changes are being rolled out across Bristol by the Green Party-run city council which will minimise the time for pedestrians waiting to cross, regardless of whether traffic is coming.

They have already proved popular on some roads and have been described by a councillor as a “cost-effective way to get traffic-calming measures”. The settings are known as ‘pre-timed max’ and how it works is pretty straightforward. If no one has used the crossing in the last 30 seconds, the green walking person symbol will be prompt when pedestrians push the button, with the light turning amber for drivers immediately.

After this, it counts back up to 30 seconds - allowing traffic to not get too congested while still allowing pedestrians to cross without long waits. However, a report by Bristol City Council said the settings “cause localised traffic congestion at times”.

Bristol Live reports that the changes could cut average waiting times for pedestrians to cross a road from 20 seconds to as low as three seconds.

Around 100 standalone crossings, plus new crossings as they are built, across Bristol are reportedly set to benefit from the rollout which is expected to cost about £20,000.

Green Councillor Emma Edwards said: “I’m really excited about this. This really helped our ward [Bishopston and Ashley Down] a lot. There are three primary schools off Ashley Down Road, and we’re in an area where there’s not much community infrastructure levy money for traffic calming measures, or things like that.

“Doing this to prioritise getting the children to school at just the push of a button has been amazing. They wanted another crossing but we couldn’t afford that. This has actually made the crossings so effective for the school routes.

“When people realised what had happened, I got phone calls saying ‘can we have one down here and there, and it would be useful here’. Residents really love them and it’s such a cost-effective way to get traffic calming measures in and to help with things like school routes.”

It is hoped the rollout will encourage more people to walk and cycle around the city.