LED Roadway Lighting Benefits and Costs Collaboration

The use of light emitting diode (LED) roadway lighting is growing throughout New York State and the rest of the country, because of the potential for longer effective life an energy savings compared to high pressure sodium (HPS) lighting systems. While the technological feasibility of LED roadway lighting systems has been established, the impacts of LEDs on the economics of roadway lighting are situationally dependent. In many municipalities, roadway lighting is owned and maintained by the local electric utility. Entities such as the New York State Comptroller’s Office have advocated for municipalities to purchase their roadway lighting systems from the utility, and economic analyses suggest a substantial cost savings can be achieved in this way. Utility-owned roadway lighting is still attractive, however, for many municipalities who are not prepared to purchase and maintain their lighting network. In the present project, LED luminaires were installed along a major arterial roadway by the local utility. The LED lighting was selected to improve the visual conditions while using less energy. Over 30% energy savings were realized, although utility costs were not reduced by the same amount. Subjective evaluations of the previous HPS and each type of LED, revealed that the LED lighting was judged to be an improvement over the HPS lighting conditions.

• Record URL:
  https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Files/Publications/Research/Transportation/19-40-LED-Roadway-Lighting-Benefits.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-15-08_LED_Roadway_Lighting_Benefits_Final_Report.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Cover date: October 2019.
• Corporate Authors:

  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  Lighting Research Center
  21 Union Street/3rd floor
  Troy, NY  United States  12180

  New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

  17 Columbia Circle
  Albany, NY  United States  12203

  New York State Department of Transportation

  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bullough, John D
  • Radetsky, Leora C
  • Skinner, Nicholas P
• Publication Date: 2019-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 64p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Light emitting diodes; Luminaires; Street lighting
• Geographic Terms: New York (State)
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Energy; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01729910
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 19-40
• Contract Numbers: 83173; Task Assignment C-15-08
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 31 2020 11:57AM