Turning street lights off at night

[altyfc]

Might seem a strange thing to do, but what do you think of turning street lights off at night to conserve energy.

There are many hours where roads aren't used with as much frequency through the night - should we be turning off the lights?

(See related article at http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2514493.html?menu= )

It certainly isn't the first time. It does raise safety concerns though.

[Haanu]

San Francisco is trying it out too.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070920/...s_out_campaign

[spadlet]

Would it be feasible to have motion sensors or similar to trigger the street lights to come on when needed? Maybe the sensors would take more power than just leaving the street lights on. It would make running around at night more fun though.

[hoon]

Streetlights to be turned off on major roads - Telegraph

Streetlights on major roads could be switched off between midnight and 5am, under a Highways Agency plan.

[cdw]

As a supporter of the campaign for dark skies this is excellent news, there is a whole universe out there to see, bring it on!

[emz]

Ordinarily I'd agree but with the evenings getting dark much sooner I quite often have to come home from work in the dark. With no street lights I wouldn't fancy walking or cycling anywhere so it'd mean either driving or taking public transport purely to feel safe.

[Besoeker]

Originally Posted by spadlet

Would it be feasible to have motion sensors or similar to trigger the street lights to come on when needed? Maybe the sensors would take more power than just leaving the street lights on.

Interesting though, and I have wondered about that too.
Motion sensors take little power so that isn't a show-stopper.
Installation could be costly but that is a once off capital cost.
Maybe the crunch is the logistics.
Street lights, often discharge lamps because of efficiency/efficacy, take quite a while from power on to producing useful output. You could walk down a street far more quickly than the lights could follow you.
That said, with some data acquisition one could make reasonable predictions on where lighting is needed and, equally importantly, where it isn't.

[altyfc]

Do you finish work after midnight, emz?

I think the idea is that the lights are switched off when the roads are least used.

[IamChristen&ThisisMyHeart]

Wow that sounds cool and kinda crazy at the same time. At first I thought you were talking about the traffic lights haha. I think it could be a good idea for areas that do not have a lot of late night traffic- not downtown for instance.