Thanks for your report. This pedestrian signal operates the way the majority of the traffic signals in the City do and is in line with our traffic signal policy (link below), where pedestrians receive a WALK light 3 seconds before the parallel green time for Mt . Auburn St. During this short interval pedestrians may begin their crossing while all vehicular traffic is stopped. Having an exclusive pedestrian phase (where all vehicle traffic is stopped during the entirety of the pedestrian WALK time) would add substantial delay to pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists. Increased delays have been shown to lower compliance to the traffic signals from all users which makes the intersection less safe. We will confirm that there is a Lead Pedestrian Interval and see if there are other safety/timing improvements that we can make at the intersection.

https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/Traffic/officialsignalpolicy.pdf