Miles Park, The sound of our cities: why the Australian pedestrian button belongs in our archives, The Conversation, 6 April 2026
The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button is an immediately identifiable product in our physical and aural urban landscape.
Now inducted into the National Film Sound Archive of Australia’s 2026 Sounds of Australia, it is one of very few physical objects selected for the archive. It joins the Fairlight CMI digital synthesiser, inducted in 2015, and the Speaking Clock, inducted in 2024.
The sound of the Australian pedestrian crossing was initially conceived as a priority to assist visually impaired pedestrians. But is also benefits other people. It is now an instantly recognisable and unmistakable prompt of when to, and when not to, “walk”: the slow “tick” beat indicating a wait signal is replaced with the repetitive faster “dit-dit-dit-dit” of when to walk.