Research | Oct 13, 2026

New CIE Technical Report CIE 258:2026 – Adaptive Road Lighting

The Technical Report is about the following: Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining road safety and limiting the environmental impact of artificial light are increasingly important considerations in road lighting design. Adaptive road lighting (ARL) can help address these challenges by enabling lighting to better respond to actual road use and conditions.

For the first time, this Technical Report brings together information on road lighting control systems for ARL installed around the world, providing a comprehensive overview of available approaches and practices.

This Technical Report is highly relevant for standardization organizations, lighting designers, manufacturers, engineers and other professionals involved in specifying, designing and managing road lighting systems, helping them make informed decisions when planning new installations or upgrading existing systems.

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Publication no: CIE 258:2026
ISBN no: 978-3-902842-32-9
DOI: 10.25039/TR.258.2026

Keywords: adaptive road lighting, smart lighting, adaptive lighting, smart city, automatic lighting control, street lighting control prescriptions, road lighting control systems

Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining road safety and limiting the environmental impact of artificial light are increasingly important considerations in road lighting design. Adaptive road lighting (ARL) can help address these challenges by enabling lighting to better respond to actual road use and conditions.

Adaptive road lighting (ARL) extends conventional road lighting by using additional control devices to better match the lighting condition to the prevailing traffic condition. This Technical Report describes the benefits, system types and application of ARL.

For those periods when the light level is reduced, an ARL system reduces the energy consumption (and hence CO2 footprint) and light pollution compared with a conventional road lighting system.

It therefore reduces the detrimental impact of lighting after dark on fauna, flora and astronomic observation.

Some ARL systems enable real-time monitoring of the lighting installation, which increases road safety compared to those systems that adapt the lighting according to a pre-determined schedule, and reduces maintenance costs.

This Technical Report describes the benefits of ARL, the components of ARL systems, the control strategies and the requirements of an ARL installation. Three case studies of installed ARL systems are described.

The document is written in English, with a short summary in French and German. It consists of 49 pages with 9 figures and 13 tables and is readily available from the CIE Webshop or from the National Committees of the CIE.

The price of this publication is EUR 135, (Members of a National Committee of the CIE receive a 66,7 % discount on this price – please approach your NC for information on accessing this discount).