In recognition of traffic lights being in use for 150 years BLT weighs in on the progression of public lighting.

It has been 150 years since the first public traffic light was used in
England, sparking interest from lighting specialists BLT about the
progression that public lighting has seen over the years.

Installed outside of the Houses of Parliament in 1868, the traffic light was
invented by JP Knight and unlike it’s modern day version, was powered by
gas, using red and green lights that were illuminated by a flame in order
to signal stop and go.

Following the explosion of one of a traffic light of this sort, the project for
public lighting was put on hold which hindered the development of the
technology for quite some years.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso / Unsplash

Steve Ellwood, managing director of BLT said: “Traffic lights are one of
the greatest modern day inventions, so it’s important to celebrate this
milestone and appreciate how far the technology has advanced since its
inception.

“Over the past few years, many of the light signals on our streets have
been replaced by LED options, which is good as this is high-quality and
energy-efficient light source that is more beneficial to the environment.
We hope to see all traffic lights on our streets becoming LED and are also
encouraging people to invest in this type of lighting for their homes.”

The first ever visible light LED was invented in 1962 by Nick Holonyack, a consulting engineer for a lighting company.

Modern day LED optic traffic lights don’t have a colour in the lens because
the LEDs already give off coloured light. In bright sunlight, these type of
traffic signals will never appear lit, making them a safer choice for road
users.

The light source boasts high energy-efficiency and uses around 90% less
power than incandescent bulbs, making it an excellent choice for
homeowners that are keen to reduce the cost of their bills each month.