Request ID: FOI-0778-2324 Date published: 06 July 2023
You asked
What is the typical rate of failure (e.g., one every two days, two weeks) of LED streetlights owned by TFL? What is the typical or average time to repair/replace these failures?
With more and more modern devices being added to some street light poles (e.g., CCTV, potentially radio cells) - do your streetlights have power capacity for this (say for example another 3A at every other pole)?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0778-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12th June 2023 asking for information about LED streetlights.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“What is the typical rate of failure (e.g., one every two days, two weeks) of LED streetlights owned by TFL? What is the typical or average time to repair/replace these failures?
With more and more modern devices being added to some street light poles (e.g., CCTV, potentially radio cells) - do your streetlights have power capacity for this (say for example another 3A at every other pole)?”.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid it is not possible to source the information to answer your questions within the costs limit for responding to FOI requests, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
The exemption applies in this instance because the information has not been collated before and there is no quick or efficient way of doing so.TfL has over 31,000 LED units on the road network. We have recorded 15,293 defects against LED units since c2013. However, without a trawl of individual records - which is not possible within the costs limit - we are not able to identify the distinct fault with the units. The defects may not relate to the LED unit itself - for example, it could relate to a fuse, or an event such as a vehicle collision. Furthermore, note that not all of the LED units are lamp columns. The figures cited above include subway lighting, belisha beacons and sign lighting, adding further complexity to providing data specifically in regard to the failure rate of LED streetlights.
In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope, taking into account the comments above.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
