Improved Nighttime Lighting — 

Fremont, California 

VISION ZERO SUCCESS STORY — INFRASTRUCTURE

APRIL 2020 | FHWA-SA-20-009

Background 

The City of Fremont Vision Zero 2020 Status Report 

and Action Plan1, published in March 2016, 

identified that approximately 50 percent of the 

City’s fatal and serious injury collisions occurred 

in the early or late evening, with the higher 

percentage of crashes occurring in the early 

evening period between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. 

In response to this data, the City accelerated an 

environmental sustainability initiative to upgrade 

streetlighting to acheive more immediate 

safety benefits. Under this new initiative, the City 

replaced and retrofitted every existing streetlight 

with energy efficient light-emitting diode (LED) 

light fixtures. The LED fixtures, compared to 

previous high-pressure sodium lighting, improved 

nighttime visibility through better color rendering, 

provided more uniform lighting distributions, 

allowed for much greater flexibility regarding 

overall lighting output and control, and 

eliminated many dark areas between poles. Since 

nighttime driving inherently involves a low-light 

vision environment, the improved color contrast 

by LED lighting will provide better detection of 

pedestrians and roadside fixed objects. 

Implementation

The City converted approximately 16,000 

streetlights from the standard “yellow” sodium 

vapor lights to brighter “white” LED lights. The new 

streetlight fixtures are typically half the wattage of 

the old fixtures, and more than double the rated 

lumen output (the measure of the total amount 

of visible light to the human eye). 

1 https://fremont.gov/2594/Fremont-Vision-Zero-2020

Key Successes

Fremont’s Vision Zero improvements, 

which included street light LED conversion, 

yielded the following results: 

Fatal and Serious 

Injury Crashes

Before (2013-2015) = 140

After (2016-2018) = 79

Vehicular Crashes

Before (2013-2015) = 57

After (2016-2018) = 39 

Pedestrian/

Bicycle Crashes

Before (2013-2015) = 47

After (2016-2018) = 29

*The reduction in crashes is due to various 

safety countermeasures; better lighting is just 

one component. Other countermeasures 

included pedestrian countdown signals, 

neighborhood speed lumps, lowered speed 

limits on several streets, increased enforcement, 

lane narrowing and buffered bike lanes, and 

community engagement programs.
Figure 1. Graphic. Overhead view of intersection in Fremont with previously installed sodium vapor lights.

Figure 2. Graphic. Aerial view of intersection in Fremont with brighter LED lighting. © 2019 City of Fremont

The new fixtures provide better color rendering 

compared to the old fixtures. LED lights also 

require less maintenance with lights lasting up to 

5 times longer (10 years vs. 2 years). In residential 

areas, to avoid disturbing residents, the City 

installed a slightly warmer tone of white light 

with a color temperature of 3000K, consistent 

with the American Medical Association’s 

recommendation of a low-intensity lamp that 

minimizes short-wave blue light2. This compares 

to the 4000K neutral-white color temperature for 

fixtures on higher-traffic arterial roadways and in 

other high traffic areas. 

The City previously converted streetlights through 

energy efficiency block grants. The public 

responded positively to the conversions and 

expressed a greater sense of safety from the 

increased illumination. 

Given the high percentage of crashes in the 

early evening period, the City’s Public Works 

department decided to rapidly convert the rest 

of the streetlights over several months in 2016 

rather than multiple phases over several years by 

issuing bonds.

2 https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/amaadopts-guidance-reduce-harm-high-intensity-street-lights

Outcomes

The City assessed the impact of the upgraded 

facilities by comparing crash data three years 

prior to implementation (2013-2015) and three 

years directly following the completion of the 

upgrades (2016-2018). The City determined that 

fatal and serious injury crashes in dark conditions 

declined by approximately 23 percent.

Funding

The streetlight upgrades were part of a larger 

project that also included other energy and 

water efficiency improvements. The total project 

cost $9.1 million, and the streetlight portion of the 

project cost approximately $6.5 million. Prior to 

the lighting upgrades, the City spent $1.2 million 

annually on the streetlight utility bill. Following the 

lighting upgrades, the City’s streetlight utility bill 

was nearly cut in half. 

The City financed the project using bond 

issuance, and with the utility and maintenance 

cost savings, the City anticipates paying off the 

bonds within 10 years.

POINT OF CONTACT

MATTHEW BOMBERG, P.E.

SENIOR TRANSPORTATION ENGINEER

CITY OF FREMONT

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

510.494.4766 | MBOMBERG@FREMONT.GOV