A Leading Pedestrian Interval (LPI) is a timing option used at signalized intersections to activate the pedestrian walk signal before the adjacent (parallel) vehicle signal, providing a head start to pedestrians wishing to cross. This head start gives an advantage to the pedestrian over vehicles turning at the intersection and has been demonstrated to improve driver yielding behaviour. The LPI allows pedestrians to establish their presence within the crosswalk, making them more visible to drivers.
Note that while LPIs provide a head start to pedestrians, all the rules of crosswalks continue to apply. For example, a pedestrian lawfully in a crosswalk continues to have the right of way until they exit the crosswalk, regardless of the status of the walk signal. Please review the Crosswalks webpage for more information.
LPIs are most effective at signalized intersections where there is a significant amount of turning traffic, especially left turns, travelling over a crosswalk. Signalized “T” intersections are priority candidate locations since all traffic exiting the side street are turning across the main street crosswalks. Consideration is also given to locations where turning traffic encounters limited or no opposing through traffic (i.e. intersections with one-way streets), near schools or seniors’ facilities or where collision history indicates a pattern of vehicle/pedestrian collisions associated with turning traffic.
Locations for new LPIs are continuously being reviewed and implemented. To find out where LPIs are currently installed, visit the Traffic Control Locations dataset on Open Data where LPIs are included as an attribute item.
A leading pedestrian "walk" signal is shown at Inglis Street and Tower Road