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Soon countdown timers at pedestrian crossings in Paris?

undefined undefined 16 avril 2025 undefined 08h30

The Editor

© Hugo Dominguez, le Bonbon.

As part of its Pedestrian Plan, the city hall of Paris has decided to test out a brand new system in two neighborhoods of the capital: a countdown timer for pedestrians wanting to cross the street.

We agree, getting around Paris can often feel like a battle. Between reckless drivers, hurried cyclists, and endless traffic jams, crossing the street sometimes resembles a true competitive sport. In this context, the City of Paris has decided to launch its Pedestrian Plan in 2023, a project aimed at improving walking in the capital and ensuring the safety of everyone.

In addition to pedestrianizing certain areas, the City is also looking to set up new measures to rethink and clarify the rules for sharing public space. This includes three countdown clocks, installed at the beginning of April for a trial phase, on pedestrian crossings in Paris.


23 seconds on the clock

You’ve probably seen them in other cities, in France or elsewhere: some pedestrian crossings can be equipped with a countdown clock, displaying the seconds left to cross safely.

stop before each color change of a traffic light. The timer is placed at eye level, next to the familiar red and green men. The idea? To indicate the time you have left to cross the street or to wait before you can take off, so as to better understand your crossing.

After Strasbourg, Vannes, and Neuilly-sur-Seine, the City of Paris is also trying out this system for a few weeks. According to information from the Parisien, two timers have been installed on rue de Rennes in the 6th. The first, located at number 116, gives pedestrians 23 seconds to cross on green, and makes them wait 55 seconds on red. On the second one, located at number 112, the timer remains off when the light is green. A little nuance that will allow the City to observe pedestrian behavior in response to the different signals.acute;rentes installations. A third meter has been installed in the 19th, in front of the Général-Brunet elementary school, to assess the system in a completely different urban setup. 

countdown pedestrian crossing in Paris credit hugo dominguez le bonbon© Hugo Dominguez, le Bonbon.


A Skeptical Welcome in Paris

In a testing phase lasting just a few weeks, this new device would, according to the Paris city hall, “improve compliance with traffic lights” and thus “reduce the risks for pedestrians.” With the non-compliance rate currently at 40%, some are still doubtful about the actual impact of this mechanism. When interviewed by Le Parisien, Christian Machu, an expert in safety and road traffic and also the general director of the association 60 million pedestrians, mentions a “small deterrent effect of 5% on offenders,” which indeed doesn’t seem like much.

But for now, it’s tough to assess the real impact.impact of the countdown timer, as long as the testing phase is not finished. The City of Paris plans to share the results of this experiment by this summer, indicating whether the observations have been conclusive and if they will influence a rollout of the system throughout the city.