If you’ve noticed your city or town replacing large numbers of traffic lights, you aren’t alone.  More and more cities are switching their traffic lights over to LED technology because of its many benefits over traditional illumination methods.  Traffic lights have only recently jumped on the LED bandwagon.  Historically, traffic lights were made with incandescent or halogen light bulbs until the mid 1990s when manufacturers realized the benefits of LED and started utilizing this technology.  While the incandescent-based lamps use a single large bulb, LED-based lamps display a continuous light source by arranging an array of elements in pre-determined patterns.

There are many advantages to using LED-based lamps over the incandescent models for traffic lights.  As with any LED light, it is much more efficient to operate and will enjoy a longer lifespan.  It can also switch quite a bit faster since LED lights can turn on quicker than incandescent, and illuminate brighter with better contrast against the direct sunlight.  Multiple colors and patterns can be used in the same LED lamp, whereas incandescent cannot.  Finally, while incandescent lights will suddenly fail and leave the traffic signal inoperable, LED lamps will gradually dim when they wear out, which will provide city maintenance departments with plenty of advance notice when it’s time to change the light.

Most traffic light manufacturers have realized the extensive benefits of LED technology, particularly the fact that LED-based signals are much less expensive to operate and maintain than similar incandescent-based lamps.  They may appear more costly in the beginning, but that cost is quickly recouped by the impressive energy efficiency.  Today, almost all new traffic light deployments in North America utilize LED-based lamps, and many existing systems have been reconfigured.

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