beg button

plural beg buttons

1. derogatoryA pedestrian call button.

   Minneapolis is banishing the “beg button” at hundreds of city intersections, automating the walk signs so pedestrians don’t have to touch a potentially germ-ridden surface.

   2020 April 22, Liz Navratil, Emma Nelson, “Minneapolis automates walk signals to protect pedestrians from coronavirus”, in Star Tribune, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2021

   1 more example

   Pushing the “beg button” (so called as the pedestrian must request the signal) twice does not make it come faster or stay green longer. Ten, or a hundred, pedestrians do not make the “walk” light come faster either. The beg button is often positioned out of the way, requiring the pedestrian to walk further than would otherwise be required. A few seconds here, a few seconds there, add up.

   2018 June 10, David Levinson, “How Australia's traffic signals favour drivers and discourage walking”, in The Guardian