MAIN ROADS has deactivated contactless sensors it installed around Perth during the Covid pandemic, leaving locals frustrated at the lack of communication and a change in their routine. 

In 2022 the department rolled out the contactless sensors at 70 pedestrian crossings in busy areas across Perth. 

They provided pedestrians with an alternative to pushing the button to activate the crossing; instead they could hover their hand over a sensor. 

WA transport minister Rita Saffioti said at the time the technology would offer reassurance to people who were hesitant to use the pedestrian push buttons during the pandemic. 

But Main Roads says the sensors suffered from “a number of faults” including issues with picking up when someone was trying to use them and also glitches in their audio elements. 

It decided to permanently scrap the trial and deactivate the sensors across the 70 sites.

Fremantle resident Bruce Wilson was concerned about the lack of communication from Main Roads before it turned the sensors off, saying it left people in the lurch.

“They did it without being willing to advise everyone,” he said. 

Mr Wilson said he still observed people trying to use the sensors, describing the situation as an “inconvenience” to people who use the crossings daily. 

He says touchless sensors are good for hand hygiene generally and there should be more of them, while removing them is an “adverse direction to improving community health”. 

Retail worker Ella Cooke is immunocompromised and has been using the sensors to help her cross a busy intersection near work several times a day.

Ms Cooke said she was also concerned about the sensors being deactivated.

”Just because Covid isn’t as prominent any more doesn’t mean there aren’t still dangerous germs around,” she told the Voice.

by SOPHIE KELLY