Solar Safety Light for Public Transport Stops

The Vivacity Solar Safety Light for bus stops and tram stops provides lighting that enhances the appearance and comfort of the stop for passengers. The solar light is a self-contained unit.

Designed to be quickly fitted to existing bus stop poles and tram stop poles, the light-weight solar safety light has a motion sensor and timer that are programmed to adjust light levels to assist passengers and to reduce spillover lighting into neighbouring buildings and properties when transport services have stopped running. Combined with light-coloured recycled-glass OmniGrip Deco to increase reflected light levels (luminance), the solar safety light and OmniGrip Deco will improve community perceptions of bus stops and tram stops.

improving perceptions of safety

Perceptions of safety and comfort are important factors in whether people use public transport, and when they use it. Reality for many commuters is that they commence their early morning commute in darkness in winter months, and return home in darkness in the evening. Shift workers and students could be commuting any time of the day or night. That’s why perceptions of night-time safety at bus stops and tram stops is so important.

Until now, lighting at bus stops and tram stops has been expensive. It required either a shelter with solar panels on the roof, or an free-standing electric light connected to a power source or a large solar panel. If a pole wasn’t available then a new pole would be required, with engineered footings to support the light and solar panel. Planning, design and approvals take months. If the new pole’s diameter exceeded 100 mm then it became a roadside hazard and required crash protection.

The problem is repeated at every stop along a route and is expensive and time consuming to solve using conventional lighting technology.

Vivacity PLUG ‘N’ PLAY Solar Safety Light

The Vivacity Solar Safety Light is designed to be retrofitted to existing bus stop sign poles and tram stop sign poles up to 78 mm in diameter. The light is plug ‘n’ play – able to be fitted in minutes to existing poles. Whole routes can have their stops lit within a few days by fitting the light to existing bus stop poles and tram stop poles.

Quickly installed by unqualified labour
No new poles required
No expensive concrete footings
No expensive traffic management

The default setting for the Vivacity Solar Safety Light provides 18 lux at ground level. If the motion activity sensor doesn’t detect motion the light’s brightness reduces as follows:

One hour at 100% brightness
Two hours at 70% brightness
50% brightness until sunrise.

If motion is detected it returns to the previous level for the set period. The motion sensor and long duration timer reduces light spillage into neighbouring buildings after public transport services have stopped for the night.

Custom options

Custom light levels, colour temperatures and sensor timings can be factory set, enabling public transport agencies and Councils to set the desired brightness, warmth of the light and how long each level of lighting is provided for. Drawing upon its replaceable battery, the light can remain illuminated all night, only increasing its brightness when motion at the stop is detected.

Battery or photoluminescent backlit timetables are available for use on bus stops and tram stops with or without the Solar Safety Light. Fitting to transit authority timetable holders using Vivacity LED Edge Lighting, the backlit timetable enables route timetables, information bulletins and advertising to be read by public transport users at night. Older and visibility impaired passengers will benefit.

To increase luminance, a lighter coloured slip-resistance recycled-glass OmniGrip Deco surface can be applied to the stop and its surrounds. This gives the stop a fresh new appearance, reflects light, increases skid-resistance and can assist with minor levelling for DDA compliance.

Other Applications

The Vivacity Solar Safety Light is well suited to provide lighting along paths through parks and gardens, in car parks and around commercial and industrial facilities. Councils can use it to improve lighting on routes leading to bus stops and tram stops – a major safety issue at night. Businesses can use the light for safety and security for employees moving within a site or to and from a car park.

Research

The standard Solar Safety Light provides illuminance of 18 lux. Customisation is available. The level of lighting is in response to research that found that lower levels of lighting and warmer coloured light increase women’s perception of safety in public spaces. It reduces the contrast between lit and unlit areas, enabling people’s vision to adapt more quickly. OmniGrip Direct can also provide coloured OmniGrip Deco surfaces that reflect light, increasing luminance.

People can feel vulnerable when walking to and from bus stops and tram stops, through open spaces and parks, as well as when they are waiting. Some stops are located in isolated areas, adjacent to parks or industrial sites or facilities that are closed at night. For the night-time commuter, there may be very little street activity that provides passive surveillance and security for people waiting to use public transport.

Passenger waiting at bus stop at night

Research has also found that when people feel unsafe at a bus stop, their estimate of time is up to three times longer. One study reported that “For a woman waiting at a simple ‘pole-in-the-ground’ curbside stop with perceived insecure surroundings, a 10 minute wait seems to take nearly half an hour” (Fan, Guthrie and Levinson, 2015). Another found “females were more concerned about bus stop lighting, security cameras, driver courtesy and low floor buses” (People for Public Spaces and Multisystems Inc, 1999). A Canberra Study audited bus stops and identified that “Improved lighting, reduced isolation, and eliminating possible areas of entrapment would all contribute to women feeling safer at bus stops and on their journey to and from the bus stop” (Courtney-Bailey, et al, 2019).

Using the Vivacity Solar Safety Light to cost-effectively light bus stops, tram stops and walking paths along a bus route or tram route is one quick way that public transport agencies and Councils can take action to help passengers, and potential passengers, feel safer when using public transport. It will contribute to actual and perceived safety of public transport, the overall customer experience and farebox revenue for public transport operators.

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References

Fan, Yingling, Ph.D.; Guthrie, Andrew, MURP; Levinson, David, Ph.D (2015), ‘Perception of Waiting Time at Transit Stops and Stations’, https://nacto.org/ Accessed 9 June 2020.

Project for Public Spaces and Multisystems Inc. (1999) in ‘Best Practice Approaches to Public Transport Amenity/Soft Factor Valuation, Research Literature Review [Revised Draft]’, Dr Chris De Gruyter, Professor Graham Currie, Dr Farhana Naznin, Public Transport Research Group, Monash Institute of Transport Studies, 13 December 2017

Courtney-Bailey, Pip; Hutchinson, Amber; Tran, Julia; Wiens, Sandra (November 2019), ‘Making ACT bus stops work for women’, http://www.wchm.org.au/, accessed 10 June 2020