At least in Ontario, Canada you have as much time as you need to make forward progress once you legally enter the intersection. Or something like that. But the light is there to indicate it is allowed to enter, not how long you have.
I get my ass out of the way asap.
In any case, I've measured things as simple as how long it takes for me to reach bus station from work place, and I've sometimes reached it sooner than some people I see running. I know it sounds crazy, but some times they forget to buy the ticket, or they get blocked by slow people taking ALL the road (three horizontally-aligned people in a four tops road), while I keep my pace.
I'd wish people had less worries in their life (we all have our problems and demons), and could keep their peace of mind without worrying about everything or having OCD or something.
Anyways, this sounds amazing.
The last time I was there (in Montreal) at every corner I had to wait for three or four cars running the red light and even then sprint across the street since I lost valuable crosswalk seconds.
I think you're a Quebec driver trying to lull me into a sense of trust so you can run me over when I visit.
Most drivers (as a generalization) have distain for pedestrians and expect them to get out of their way all the time because they are in an automobile, thus much more important. I've been cursed at and honked at many, many times for entering an intersection at the very beginning of the "walk" symbol because the driver wished to make a right hand turn. More than once! There's actually some intersections where it's actually very dangerous to cross at the "walk" symbol for that reason.
Then there's the drivers who believe they are more important than even other cars, they believe stop signs (and red lights to an extent) don't apply to them and just ignore them and go when they feel like it and expect other people to stop for them. I was hit by a car as a child pedestrian by a driver who didn't even slow down for a red light. Luckily they didn't do any damage as they slammed on the brakes last minute and only knocked me down. Just the other day I had a near miss, as a driver, with another car who ran a red light. That driver flipped me off because I was in their way and they believe themselves to be much more important than me. Last time I drove with my dad he yelled at me for not illegally cutting off the driver who had the right of way but was a little slow entering the intersection. My dad is a huge asshole in practically every other way possible.
It's gotten so much more hostile in the last decade. This is why self driving cars can't come soon enough.
In my area they have special blinking lights near crosswalks by heavy traffic areas. You press a button to walk and it comes on instantly, speed limit is only 35 mph. There is also a special pedestrian only red light button for major road crossings. No cars use the light and it only turns on for people walking.
But they cost money and apps cost money, so how much are the dead people worth?
You then could just rely on the legalities I guess and ignore the article which was mostly about safety.
Dead people cost a bit, but the elderly a lot less, sometimes you save money. Often we get these figures wrong because of emotions and it's hard to exactly quantify.