NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — New research from UMass Amherst suggests more driver awareness is needed about pedestrian hybrid beacons.
A pedestrian hybrid beacon is a type of crossing signal that consists of three lights. When a pedestrian activates the signal, the lights cycle from flashing yellow to solid yellow, to solid red, to flashing red.
Boston 25 News traffic anchor Catherine Parrotta met MassDOT Assistant Administrator of Traffic and Safety Neil Boudreau at a PHB on Rt 114 in North Andover, where he demonstrated how the signal works.
The signal is designed to stop traffic three seconds before pedestrians get the signal to begin crossing. “The vehicles should stay stopped,” he explained during the pedestrian countdown. “However, if there’s no more pedestrians crossing, they’re free to move forward.”
Angela Caggiano is a PhD candidate at UMass Amherst who studied driver behavior at the signals between 2023 and 2025. “Just from general observation, they weren’t performing as well as they were in other areas of the country, such as Arizona and Texas,” Caggiano said.
She found the location of a PHB seems to be key to its success.
“I think they perform a lot better on wider roadways,” she explained. Caggiano said this is because pedestrians have more distance to cross and more traffic to deal with.
Caggiano’s research found the beacons don’t do as well in areas like rail trails or shared-use paths, where drivers are so accustomed to stopping for pedestrians that they do it before the signal turns red. “And when a driver does this, a pedestrian may or may not have already used the push button. And if they have used the push button and then they proceed to cross before their walk interval, this is going to cause confusion for drivers later.”
Pedestrian hybrid beacons started popping up on roads across the country back in 2012. The first one was installed in Massachusetts in 2015, and there are currently about 40 pedestrian hybrid beacons statewide. Some were installed by MassDOT, and others my local cities and towns.
As for whether one of these will be coming to a road near you, MassDOT says they’re always studying sites to evaluate which type of crossing signal will work best. In the meantime, Caggiano says drivers should proceed with caution. “It’s just going to take time before drivers in Massachusetts are going to fully understand what they’re supposed to do at these devices.”
Caggiano is now researching how well pedestrian hybrid beacons work from the pedestrian standpoint. That research is set to wrap up soon.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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