I wonder how they're gonna deal with abuse. What's stopping an idiot from flooding every single light with requests and making them slower than default, disrupting the entire traffic?
Why couldn't it be a physical button on the traffic light itself instead of an app? Seems easier to use and would limit abuse to a single location at a time.
<quote>Most potential users are elderly and often wary of relying on unfamiliar technology. “We had to approach them one-on-one and show them how the app worked on their phones. Once we did that they were keen to get involved, but the barrier was very high. We held a presentation and put an advert in a local newspaper with a circulation of 2,000 and 10 people came forward.”</quote>
10 people responding to an ad seen by 2000 is actually a decent success rate. Print ads aren't very good for anything other than keeping the company in the front of the reader's mind. They're great for companies like big chains ("Next time you want fast food, come check out the new BigMac for just $x.xx"), but not for people trying to elicit specific actions immediately ("Download this app now for increased walk times")
Why couldn't it be a physical button on the traffic light itself instead of an app? Seems easier to use and would limit abuse to a single location at a time.