Urban streets will soon be lined with safer, cheaper, more efficient LED (light-emitting diode) lighting thanks to an accelerated funding model, said Simon Bridges, Transport and Energy and Resources Minister.

At today’s Road Lighting Conference in Auckland, the Minister announced a NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) policy change that will allow local authorities looking at upgrading road lighting to LED to access funding faster.

“The accelerated renewal LED conversion program will ensure capital is available to all councils that wish to undertake this work in the immediate future,” said Bridges.

In the next three years, NZTA and local government will be able to spend approximately $66 million on converting existing road lighting to LED.  In the three years from 2018, current indications are that another $39 million may be spent.

LED lighting will also be the default option for any new roads being built, and the Government’s Roads of National Significance and Accelerated Regional Roads upgrades will all be fitted with LED lighting, where lighting is necessary.

“The whole of life cost of LED lighting is around 20 per cent lower than current lighting, thanks to lower energy usage and lower maintenance costs. 

“LED road lighting can also improve urban road safety by making colors and objects clearer to drivers, reduce crime and vandalism, and reduce light pollution because they have less of a light ‘spill’, allowing residents to more easily enjoy our stunning Southern Hemisphere skies.

“Conversion to LED lighting is a smart choice for communities,” Bridges says.

Currently there are around 370,000 road lights in New Zealand.  Only 2% use LED technology, with the rest being HPS (high pressure sodium) lamps.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by NZTA and EECA found that the whole of life cost of LED lighting is around 20% lower than current lighting.  The total annual cost of road lighting, which is met by NZTA and local authorities, is about $50 million, meaning conversion would save about $10 million per year.  This is a conservative estimate based on the 50% lower energy usage and 70% lower maintenance costs.

Auckland Transport has committed to an upgrade of all of its street lights. Around 40,000 will be replaced over the next four years, out of a total of 100,000.