At 11 downtown crossroads in Shanghai, pedestrians no longer have to worry that drivers are also allowed to use the crossroads at the same time.

Now at these 11 crossroads, no vehicles are given a green light while pedestrians cross.

Shanghai traffic police said yesterday that seven of the 11 have been added this year. The aim is to ensure a safe passage for pedestrians on zebra crossings.

Pedestrians cross the streets in all directions at the crossroads of Nanjing Road W. and Changde Road in downtown Shanghai yesterday. This year seven such “diagonal” crossroads, including this one, have been brought into play, giving the city a total of 11. Vehicles are prohibited when pedestrians are given the green light to cross. At the diagonal crossroads, people no longer have to cross one street and wait for the lights to change to cross again.

At the Nanjing Road W. and Changde Road crossing in the busy Jing’an Temple area, pedestrians can now cross the streets in all directions, including diagonally, at the same time instead of having to wait to cross one section first and then wait for lights to change again to cross the next.

Nana Zhang, who works at a cafe on Changde Road, said the new pedestrian-only lights are helping to move both pedestrians and cars more efficiently. “Cars making turns either blocked or were blocked by pedestrians, which made both go less efficiently,” she said.

Diagonal zebra crossings are also found at the crossroads of Xianxia Road and Zunyi Road, Kongjiang Road and Shuangliao Road, Huaihai Road M. and Huangpi Road S. and Zhangyang Road and Nanquan Road N.