Replacing male figures in pedestrian crossing lights with women is a step towards gender equality and will "reduce unconscious bias", an Australian lobby group said, as Melbourne rolled out a trial scheme recently.
墨尔本近日推出了一项试点计划，将人行横道信号灯上的男性形象替换成女性形象，澳大利亚某游说团体称此举是迈向性别平等的一步，将"减少无意识的偏见"。
Ten lights at the intersection of Swanston and Flinders streets in the center of Melbourne will be fitted out with female figures as part of a 12-month trial spearheaded by the Committee of Melbourne.
墨尔本市中心斯旺斯顿街和弗林德斯街交叉路口的10个信号灯将配有女性形象，这是墨尔本委员会领导的一项为期12个月的试点计划的一部分。
The not-for-profit organization is striving for equal representation of men and women at all crossings across the state of Victoria with its Equal Crossing initiative.
这个非营利组织正在发起"平等十字路口"倡议，争取让维多利亚州范围内所有十字路口的男性、女性形象的信号灯数量对等。

The initiative came at no cost to taxpayers - a spokeswoman specified that a local electrical company absorbed the cost as part of its sponsorship.
该组织一名女发言人明确指出，纳税人不必为此倡议买单，费用由当地一家电力公司承担，这是该公司的部分赞助。
But response to the scheme has been mixed, with some criticizing it as lip service towards gender equality.
但人们对该计划的反应不一，有人批评这是追求性别平等的表面文章。
The lord mayor, Robert Doyle, was not impressed by the initiative.
该市市长罗伯特·道尔就没有被此倡议所打动。
"I'm all for doing anything we can for gender equity, but really?" he was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun. "Unfortunately, I think this sort of costly exercise is more likely to bring derision."
《太阳先驱报》援引他的话称：“为了性别平等，我们所有人都在做我们能做得任何事。但是事实呢？不幸的是，我认为这类的昂贵的实践更有可能带来的是嘲笑。”