Skip to main content

Siemens launches one-watt traffic signal

Siemens claims to have improved the energy efficiency of traffic lights by more than 85 per cent by using what it calls one-watt technology. The first pilot projects are already running in Bolzano, Italy and Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in Southern Germany.
July 1, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Siemens launches one watt traffic signal

189 Siemens claims to have improved the energy efficiency of traffic lights by more than 85 per cent by using what it calls one-watt technology. The first pilot projects are already running in Bolzano, Italy and Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in Southern Germany.

According to Siemens, a typical intersection with bulb-based technology and around 55 traffic signals (red, amber and green) can now avoid more than 6,000 kilograms of harmful carbon emissions a year. One-watt technology uses digital LED driver modules, which Siemens says eliminates the need for load resistors and switching elements in the signal light units which consume most of the energy.

Compared with the 60 watts sometimes consumed by incandescent bulbs, the electricity required by individual traffic light signals can be cut to just one or two watts. State-of-the-art LEDs with extremely low power consumption still retain full light intensity, while the one-watt light units also reduce service costs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Siemens traffic solutions improve Amsterdam bottleneck
    July 9, 2013
    Solutions supplied by Siemens are helping to improve traffic conditions at the Coentunnel, one of the most heavily used traffic arteries in the Netherlands, used by 100,000 vehicles every day. The tunnel, which links Amsterdam to the province of North Holland, has been a cause of traffic congestion and delays for many years. A much-needed second tunnel opened in spring 2013, together with a three kilometre long elevated section of freeway connecting the tunnel with the southern part of the city to relieve t
  • Data crunching ‘can prevent cars crashing’
    March 25, 2013
    Having already cut traffic collisions resulting in injuries and deaths by nearly forty per cent in five years by analysing patterns from data it has collected, the city of Edmonton, Canada, is using predictive technologies to increase road safety even more. The city’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has installed as many as 200 digital signs as just one element of an innovative traffic safety program that has dramatically reduced vehicle collisions in the Edmonton region since OTS launched in late 2006. Unde
  • EIT Mobility’s A-Z of Uvar
    January 31, 2023
    Well-implemented vehicle mobility schemes offer cities quick ways to improve the quality of urban life - and now EIT Mobility has written a guide to doing so. Andrew Stone has a read…
  • Positive incentives an alternative to road user charging?
    February 1, 2012
    The Netherlands has been looking at incentivising rush-hour avoidance. The intention is to better understand road users' motivations and find alternatives to congestion charging. Something significant needs to happen if we are to adequately address the traffic congestion and other issues caused by the ever-rising numbers of vehicles on our roads. Congestion or distance-based charging is seen as one way of managing demand and raising revenue for improvements to transport infrastructure. However, charging is