Horizontal shuffle at intersection

horizontal 'shuttle' to move pedestrians across busy intersections, especially for elderly, and especially diagonal-crossing (barn-dance)

My idea: a road-crossing-shuttle: a mechanical device to transport pedestrians from sidewalk to sidewalk through an intersection: it is on street-level at all times, it does not 'elevate', it simply transports its occupants safely and quickly across large intersections.

Particularly useful for:

• elderly people who will not walk sufficiently quickly to get to the other side in time, thus causing delays of traffic and potential accidents.
• the blind;
• young children, especially near schools, for groups of children, operating at hours when children are going to or from school;
• large island-divided roads where crossing diagonally may require a non-running pedestrian to wait for four lights.
• where there's a barn-dance option programmed into the signal lights for the duration of the journey, only for occupants of the device not for actual pedestrians, like a trolley moving diagonally, quickly, faster than walking speed, across to the diagonally-opposite side.

To prevent people from boarding when the light is changing and thus delaying it and therefore delaying traffic, it can close a few seconds prior to the light changing, or it can measure how many people are inside and initiate a light-change when it is full rather than waiting for a time light-change.

Can be only for elderly, with a card-swipe required, oerhaps even for pay.

To avoid use by people who can cross without it, it can be programmed to move across only at specific times, every three lights etc, so that it doesn;t save time for most people, but is worth waiting for by elderly, the blind, children etc.

It takes up space on the sidewalk which may be a problem, so it might have to be small, only for a few people.

Or it can be off the corner, or even be set underground until emerging when crossing is imminent etc, or flat and open as part of the sidewalk until protective bars are raised and it moves out.

As soon as it passes half the crossing, traffic can start on that part, especially turning traffic, cars which have had the device move across them and so are aware of it and are sure it has passed them.

Closest thing I found is: Traversing elevator: patent application by Otis elevator: https://www.google.ch/patents/US4821845but it actually elevates them above traffic, in a u-shaped tube which transports people over an intersection.