Pedestrian scramble

A pedestrian scramble (or exclusive pedestrian interval) is a type of traffic signal movement that temporarily stops all vehicular traffic, thereby allowing pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same time.

In Canada and the United States, the pedestrian scramble was first used in the late 1940s but fell out of favor with traffic engineers due to increased delays for pedestrians and drivers. Its benefits for pedestrian flow and safety have led to new examples being installed in many countries in recent years, including the world's busiest pedestrian intersection at Shibuya, Tokyo which began operation in 1973.

Names for the crossings in specific countries include scramble intersection and scramble corner (Canada), 'X' Crossing (UK), diagonal crossing and Barnes Dance(US), and scramble crossing (スクランブル交差点, sukuranburu-kōsaten) (Japan).