JOHN JACOBS AND JANE CURTIS – PUSH TO WALK: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE PEDESTRIAN BUTTON

Object number: 87/234-1 

The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button is a celebrated icon of Australian design. Its renowned sound became part of an independent movement for social change, and the audio tactile pedestrian button became an irreplaceable feature in our neighbourhoods. In Push to Walk: A People’s History of the Pedestrian Button find out how the PB/5 pedestrian button came to be a fixture on Australian streets from the people who helped make it happen: engineers, Vision Australia advocates and the blind and vision impaired communities.  

Producer Jane Curtis is an award-winning producer of podcasts and radio documentaries. Her podcast Inner West Icons is a sound-rich, playful tour of Sydney’s inner west. 

Sound engineer John Jacobs is an international award-winning ABC sound engineer. He brings sounds and voices together to tell engaging stories with warmth, humour and surprise. 

Narration by Bernie Hobbs. With thanks to advocates: Bill Jolley, Deputy Chair of Vision Australia; Susan Thompson, Advocacy Advisor with Vision Australia; Graham Innes, lawyer and former Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner. With thanks to engineers: Frank Hulscher, traffic engineer at the NSW Road Transport Authority; Graeme Patterson, traffic engineer at the NSW Road Transport Authority; Louis Challis AM, acoustical engineer at Nielsen Design.  

Oscillations is presented by Jon Tjhia and sound design is by Erin Hyde (Sig Nu Gris).

Interested in learning more? Check out the Oscillations collection set.