On your mark. Get set. Walk!

At the corner of Tremont and Park streets on a golden weekday, a pack of pedestrians waits . . . and waits, and waits at its starting line on the curb for the traffic light to flash ''WALK."

As the seconds tick by, a breakaway group of jaywalkers makes a run for it when the coast appears clear of cars.

The law-abiding remnants of the pack fidget and peer off in all directions, silently willing the white walking-figure signal to blink on. After about a minute-and-a-half, the walk light starts to flash, continuing for seven seconds, followed by the red ''DON'T WALK" hand and a visual 12-second countdown before the idling cars are unleashed again.

Boston is often described as a great walking city. According to a study earlier this year by the American Podiatric Medical Association -- the foot docs -- Boston steps in as the fifth-most walker-friendly city in the United States, outpacing New York (ranked seventh) and D.C. (sixth). Arlington, Va., takes first place. Boston also has a reputation as a city of speedy walkers, even earning the designation of having the fastest urban pedestrians in the country in a 1989 study by Psychology Today magazine.

But to the folks at WalkBoston, a pedestrian advocacy group, the long waits and short walk times at intersections make the city foot-unfriendly. Among the group's efforts: lobbying the city to increase the amount of ''WALK" time at Boston's busier traffic signals and allowing pedestrians to walk parallel with moving green-light traffic rather than having any foot traffic wait until traffic in all directions is stopped.

The walk-signal campaign is part of a bigger mission: to make the community more walkable and for the city to do better by pedestrians.

''It's kind of nerdy but it's satisfying because it will make a very big difference to a lot of people," says Ann Hershfang, cofounder of WalkBoston and a South End resident who averages about 10 miles a week on foot running errands. WalkBoston also organizes a series of walks throughout the city during each of the seasons so residents can explore city neighborhoods on foot.

''In most cities in the country, pedestrians are able to walk with the vehicle green," says Dorothea Hass, 62, another cofounder of WalkBoston who lives in Brookline and walks almost everywhere. ''You have the cars moving north and pedestrians walking in the same direction can walk north. We advertise ourselves as a walking city. The mayor talks about Boston being a walkable city. We are trying to civilize the walking situation."

WalkBoston conducted a study of 50 intersections last year, evaluating pedestrian patterns. They found on average that walkers got 7 seconds of walk time and then 7 seconds of a flashing ''DON'T WALK" signal from a 90- or 100-second cycle. The result: Because the wait time is so long, most pedestrians regularly give up and walk against the light.

So far this year, WalkBoston has worked with city officials to have five of those intersections switched to ''concurrent signalization," meaning pedestrians can cross parallel with traffic flowing on a green light. Basically, walkers can keep moving. The group is working with the transportation department to get the same kind of signal timing for intersections in the upcoming Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Of the 798 signalized intersections in Boston, 140 carry concurrent signalization, according to the city. WalkBoston says there should be more.

''The basis for our push is basically we want to make it easier, more convenient, and safer for the pedestrian to cross and better for everyone to move in our intersections," says Liz Levine, president of WalkBoston, of the South End.

While the signal changes can be especially important for older pedestrians and those with disabilities, she adds they are not strictly for the benefit of any one group. ''It's for everyone. It doesn't matter if it's for my son or for me. Nobody wants to walk to every corner and wait."

Another change WalkBoston is advocating is to switch to buttonless walk signals, which would automatically produce a walk cycle rather than depending on a pedestrian to push a signal button.

''Many pedestrians and newcomers get to an intersection and they don't know if they have to push a button or not," adds Hass. ''They are lost. If they don't see a push-button, they are clasping, putting their arms around a pole looking for a push button to push and often not finding it."

One could say Hass talks the talk and walks the walk. She escorts Dutchess, her Shetland sheepdog, at least four times a day. From her Brookline home, she walks to MBTA stops at Longwood and Coolidge Corner. She even owns a pedometer, to count the number of steps she takes a day.

''You should get in 10,000 steps a day," she says, making the point that it's her goal to promote walking in Boston, even if she lives in Brookline.

Officials have been supportive of WalkBoston's suggestions, agreeing to convert intersections whenever they can. But it will be an ongoing process, with no set schedule. Key intersections currently under consideration include Clarendon Street and St. James Avenue, Boylston and Exeter streets, Berkeley and Newbury, Clarendon and Newbury, and Dartmouth and Newbury.

''Maximizing pedestrian walk times is a priority, but it's not the only priority," says Tracey Ganiatsos, a spokeswoman for the city's Transportation Department, noting changes will be made ''where and when we can."

Even with the signal changes, it may be hard to change people's crossing habits.

On a recent Thursday afternoon at the corner of Tremont and Park streets on the edge of Boston Common, visitors and workers cutting through the Back Bay are everywhere, hurrying to their destinations. There are walkers with baby strollers. Walkers with dogs. Walkers with walkers. Power walkers.

Among the denizens hitting the pavement is Joyce Kasofsky with Duke, her 130-pound Bernese mountain dog, in tow. Kasofsky walks at least three times a day with her dog, or from the T stop to her job at Brattle Bookstore.

While she walks avidly and briskly, even with her dog, she says she doesn't follow the traffic walk signals in the city. Her attitude is prevalent in Btown, she says: Cross at will.

''This is a city where we congregate in corners to jaywalk en masse," says the Newton resident. ''We're old farts. We're never going to change. We cross when we feel like it."

Fellow pedestrian Lauri Murphy agrees, as she heads to a chiropractic appointment on the outskirts of the Common.

''I never obey the lights," says Murphy, pausing for a moment at the corner of Tremont and Park streets in front of the Park Street MBTA stop, where dozens of pedestrians, like herself, are dashing by. She stops for a second to pick up a weekly newspaper at a bin.

''I don't want to wait [for the traffic light], I just walk right through it," she says, rushing off.

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.

A step ahead, a step behind

These cities were made for walking, according to a 2005 American Podiatric Medical Association study, which named the top 10 best walking cities nationwide:

1. Arlington, VA (sorry, Arlington, MA)

2. San Francisco, CA

3. Seattle, WA (even in the rain)

4. Portland, OR (no offense, Portland, Maine)

5. Boston

6. Washington DC

7. New York

8. Eugene, OR

9. Jersey City, NJ

10. Denver, CO