Perhaps you noticed some of the white streetlights that have been installed in and around the city and wondered what was going on. Or maybe you read Mr. Roadshow’s article in the Mercury News about the City’s public streetlight demonstration and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Or maybe you made it to the demonstration and wanted to know what the surveys and tests revealed.
Come to a community meeting sponsored by the City of San José Department of Transportation to learn more about San Jose’s public streetlight conversion effort and master plan on Wednesday, April 7 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the Roosevelt Community Center, 901 East Santa Clara Street, in San José.
With the adoption of its Green Vision in 2008, the City of San José made a commitment to convert all of its 62,000 streetlights to zero emission lights — streetlights powered entirely by renewable energy — by 2022. The Green Vision is a ten-point plan the City Council adopted in 2008 that seeks to more than halve the City’s carbon footprint. LED energy efficient streetlights can also be dimmed in the late evening hours when traffic is minimal to save costs. The City estimates it would be able to more than halve its $4 million annual streetlight energy bill by switching to “smart” LED streetlights.
Earlier this month, 140 San José residents participated in a streetlight demonstration that sought their response to a variety of different types of lights. On April 7th, the City will report out on the data collected at those demonstrations, discuss the implications of those results, and outline how the City proposes to use that information to select and operate San Jose’s new streetlights to reduce the City’s energy bills, improve the quality of light on San José streets, and protect the night sky.
Your input is critical as the City takes this next big step. We hope to see you on April 7th.