THE City of Vancouver says that it’s fortunate that hundreds of residents already report when a roadway or decorative light is burnt out, dim, cycling on or off or constantly on during the day. But it says it knows it is not hearing about all of them and is asking residents to take a moment and file a report with the City.
“To ensure we can enjoy our streets when the sun goes down, it’s important that all of our street lights are in working order,” says Eric Mital, Streets Director. “I’d like to thank the residents who regularly report street lighting issues. You are making our city safer. I also encourage others who’ve never filed a report to let us know when a light isn’t working on their block, in their neighbourhood or anywhere they see one in the city.”
How to report
- Via the free VanConnect app. It’s the fastest and easiest way to get a broken light repaired. Find out how to download it here.
- Via the self-service portal on Vancouver.ca.
What to note when making a report:
- Location
- Issue (Cycling on and off, dim, light out, continuously burning, making noise, unsafe)
- Number of lights out
- Pole number if available (e.g., 14/26 or 2/04)
The City’s LED light future
Starting this spring, the City will begin a four-year process to replace 44,000 old, energy inefficient high pressure sodium (HPS) roadway lights bulbs with LED lighting as part of its Outdoor Lighting Strategy. LED lighting, which has already been installed at more than 150 signalized intersections to date, has many benefits including energy savings, CO2 reductions, improved safety, reduction in maintenance and reduced light pollution.
As it begins to replace the old lights with the more energy efficient LED bulbs, the City will be instantly alerted to an outage thanks to smart technology that connects each LED bulb to a central monitoring system. Until then, the City says it will continue to rely on residents to help report outages.
