South Africa’s national road networks and streets constitute a vital part of the country’s infrastructure, and are essential to support economic activity as well as people’s movements. Moreover, public officials have been tasked to reduce the energy cost and environmental impact of the road networks, without compromising the safety of road users.
Poor lighting or none at all, can make it very difficult for motorists to see hazards or objects clearly at night. Conversely, road lighting not only reduces the risk of traffic accidents but also their severity. In the UK for instance, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents statistics found twice as many crashes on motorways are fatal, where there are no street lights. In addition, less road lighting may also lead to more incidents of opportunistic crime.
Municipalities and provincial authorities need to partner with the service provider that will provide innovative outdoor lighting solutions to address the environmental concerns and the increasing cost pressures on municipal and provincial budgets.
For this to happen, these lighting solutions have to be practical and beautiful, efficient and sustainable, and have to balance impressive energy savings as well as carbon emissions reductions. All of this, while also delivering the high quality light required to make the roads and streets feel safe and welcoming.
City beautification
Beyond safety, road and street lighting also needs to have the right levels of illumination to make the city look more attractive and transform it into a more inviting location.
Ensuring that the city is both a beautiful place to visit as well as a comfortable and safe place to reside in is critical.
Innovative lighting solutions can not only transform neglected areas into liveable, inviting urban areas that attract visitors and citizens alike, it can call attention to landmarks that make a city unique, and inspire community interaction.
Helping to make cities more sustainable and efficient
By using Tele-management systems by Philips, city officials gain access to cost effective telemanagement functions that enable them to have remote control of outdoor lighting on highways, roads, streets and in residential areas. This allows them to save on energy bills by for example, enabling a group of light points to be switched on or off at any given time or set to pre-determined dimming level.
Through tele-management systems, city officials are able to make outdoor lighting installations intelligent and dynamic, minimise light pollution and increase safety within public spaces. City management can employ user-friendly software tools that show all the relevant information such as failures, energy consumption, lifetime and the like.
Furthermore, this system even allows for real-time monitoring using web mapping services from the Internet with an option for customer to use Google maps.
By partnering with the right service provider, public authorities will be empowered with the future-proof tools and solutions required to adapt to the ever-changing needs of municipal and provincial road networks and street lighting systems.