Note though that the article said they're approaching the end of their 7-year design life. Given that they're made with indicator-type LEDs, I'm surprised they held up as well as they did. I wonder if the next version will use a couple of power LEDs instead? And yes, the driver electronics are the culprit here.
One thing I vehemently disagree with here is the idea that a bad pedestrian signal is somehow responsible for increased pedestrian injuries. You're supposed to look before you cross the street, regardless of whether you have a clear signal or not. Even when you have a signal to cross, there could be cars turning ( this is NYC, the cars generally WON'T yield to pedestrians while turning regardless of what the law says they're supposed to do ). Also, a little common sense is in order. If the signal for the traffic is green where you'll be crossing, then that always means the pedestrian signal would be red, regardless of what it's actually displaying. Sorry but this is a pet peeve of mine. I've gotten tired of hearing how many pedestrians die on busy throughways such as Queens Blvd when I see a lot of those same pedestrians looking at a 2" screen while crossing, instead of looking out for traffic. No signal system is going to protect against such stupidity. Leave the cell phone/iPod/Blackberry/GPS in your pocket while crossing.