The pandemic has changed the way we press a crossing button – instead of using our hands, a jutted-out elbow or a raised foot has done the trick.
But Melbourne's Con Liosatos was tired of seeing this.
So much so that his company designed a crossing button that didn't require pushing anything at all.
"Because of the spread of COVID, we thought it'd be a good idea," the Traffic Technologies Ltd managing director said.
"It proves you don't have to kick things — you can wipe your hand across them, and away we go."
Costing about $320 — about $100 more than the present ones — these buttons look similar to the existing black and blue hardware, known as the PB/5.
But instead of pressing a button, you wave your hand across the front.
The device contains an infrared sensor, which activates the red light – the same if you were to push the button.
While the button is not active, it is there as a backup in case the sensor fails.
Mr Liosatos said there were other benefits to this technology – he was sick of repairing vandalised buttons, which had been aggressively kicked and punched in or jammed with sticks.
Mr Liosatos's business, based in Melbourne and Sydney, has been making crossing buttons for 40 years and recently started making touchless ones.
He said they were still in the trial phase and were waiting for the final tick of approval from the state's Department of Transport to roll out the technology further.
But it is an innovation that has already received interest from councils and government transport departments across Australia, as well as stakeholders in New Zealand, Singapore and Ireland.
'No complaints'
The City of Kingston in Melbourne's south-east was the first council in the country to trial the Traffic Technologies touchless button.
They started with one set in August last year at a pedestrian crossing near Westall station.
They then rolled them out at nine further locations, including the Mordialloc Kindergarten and Cheltenham Secondary College.
Kingston Council Mayor Steve Staikos said they installed the buttons as an alternative to getting workers to sterilise the crossing buttons.
"We were part of Working for Victoria program where thousands of people were employed to clean public places," he said.
"That was a great outcome in the height of the pandemic – but it wasn't a long-term solution."
Mayor Steve Staikos said the trial had gotten no complaints and only positive feedback.
He said they were hoping to roll out the buttons at all council-owned crossings, as it made people feel more confident about using public spaces.
"The things that people are doing to protect themselves from COVID were not touching surfaces and showing hand hygiene and sanitation – then it moved onto the masks and now vaccinations," he said.
"All of these things need to work together to protect our community."
He said these buttons were part of a range of new technologies the council was investing in, including using drones to assess tree canopies.
Potential for buttons across the state
The Victorian Department of Transport is also trialling touchless buttons outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital at Grattan Street and Flemington Road and on McArthur Street at Parliament House.
Victorian Department of Transport Network Operations chief Brett Langley said they installed the first set, made by manufacturing company Braums, in June 2020.
He said for this trial, the buttons could be pressed as well as being touchless.
Mr Langley said it was part of a larger effort to make Melbourne transport as contactless as possible.
This included making the Melbourne CBD crossings automated between 5:30am to 12:30am each day.
"In the case of pedestrian detectors, the opportunities to have touchless enables a reduction in surface-to-surface disease transmission," he said.
The trial is still in the early stages with no definitive end date, as the buttons needed to be tested more as foot traffic increased following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
But Mr Langley said there were "positive indications" that it would be successful.
"The trials are to see the mechanical reliability of the device and see how pedestrians interact with it," he said.
If successful, these next steps would potentially include involving other manufacturers, but most critically, forging a plan for transforming the thousands of crossing buttons across the state.
"It is a major undertaking if you're going to progress this across all of Victoria," he said.
"We'll look at a phased option."
Trials of this crossing button are also underway in New South Wales and South Australia.
