StreetLightNews

In New Zealand, as in several other countries around the world, the operator of the street lights is not necessarily owner of the cables that supply power to the poles.
Take Rotorua, for example. While the Rotorua District Council is responsible for maintaining the poles and the light bulbs, the cables supplying power to the network is owned by a power company.
Due to a disagreement over areas of responsibilities, a simple repair of the street lights in a particular stretch of the road took over eight weeks. This is often the case when the operator and manager of the street lights is not also the owner of the entire infrastructure for the power network. Also, it makes it significantly more complicated to install central control systems.
It is surprising that the council is not working harder on establishing a method for optimized street light control. The single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from local councils (30-50%), and the prospect of significant energy savings combined with an improved quality of light should have them clapping their hands. Read the article here…  

In Trenton, Ohio, the cost of street lights will most likely be distributed evenly among the local residents. In an effort to cut down on the expenses in the city’s general funds, which is currently paying the $87,000 per year for street light, the residents will split the bill. This amounts to $1.50-2.00 a month. The city has had a discussion on its online forum, and has had no negative responses from residents. A similar scheme is used in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the city will switch to LEDs, covering the cost through energy savings. However, as a first step in the plan, the city has implemented a special street light tax on downtown property owners.
These approaches to street light savings are rather unorthodox. Letting the citizens pay for the savings through taxes may be a good way of obtaining far-sighted investments in intelligent street light control and management which may otherwise be too expensive here and now.
Residents may be made increasingly aware of the actual costs of lighting and energy consumption, and at least the residents will not have to suffer from a poorer quality of street lights, such as complete switch off or turning off every other light. Read here for additional information… 

In a cooperation between USAID, the United States agency for international development, and the Armenian government, a new lighting network has been installed. The infrastructure of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, is worn down and outdated and has not been upgraded for decades. This has had a very negative influence on the street light quality.
Previously, the street light was controlled in branches with only basic on/off functionalities. Each branch had to be inspected every day by technicians in order to avoid numerous outages. This procedure was not only labor-intensive, but also a very expensive practice.
Through USAID, a project involving 19 streets and 37 kilometers of line was launched in order to demonstrate the efficiency of such an installation. A centralized solution was chosen, allowing full control of the street lights from Yerevan’s lighting network center. This has enabled flexible lighting, allowing street light dimming at 1/3 and ½ of the full intensity. Daily inspections are no longer required and requests and inquiries from the central control point are immediately answered.
So far, the savings are expected to exceed the investments by 81%, allowing for a return-on-investment of approximately four years. There are plans to implement the system in the entire Armenian capital, supplying Yerevan residents with street light of significantly higher quality and reliability. The fact that it is cheaper and energy saving is an added bonus.
Source: http://armenia.usaid.gov

A UK study has been initiated in order to identify the effects of street lighting on crime levels. The study concludes on findings of various related reports from a time period of several decades.The findings reveal that improved lighting immediately lead to an increase in the perceived public safety. This encourages more people to use the streets at night, which again intensifies natural surveillance.
Generally, people sense that a well-lit area is safer than one that is dark.When certain areas are made more bright at night, it also deters potential offenders from committing crimes because their risk of being recognized or interrupted during their criminal activities is increased.Thus, street lighting improvements are a tangible alteration to the surroundings which can act as a catalyst to lower crime rates through changes in perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of residents and potential offenders. The image of the location might improve, giving locals and offenders the impression of increased control and order. This again might have a positive effect on community confidence.
Depending on the crime problem, it is concluded in the study that improved street lighting can often be implemented as an inexpensive and effective crime-reducing measure. Read the full report here…