This report deals with the subject of electroluminescent light (EL-light) with regard to its potential application within the road traffic area. A specific focus lies within the visibility of the roadside equipment and the possibility to reinforce the visibility for vulnerable road users. Within the present project a workshop has been carried out at VTI, with representatives from both road authorities and research, with the purpose to analyze EL-light and its application in different areas of road traffic. The results from this workshop constitute the main results of this study. In addition to this some minor tests have been carried out in order to demonstrate how the EL-light equipment functions in different environments. The main results from the workshop points out a number of possible applications for EL technology in the road traffic area. These different applications were categorized into the following five main areas: 1. Attention, warning (e.g., lighting of pedestrian and bicycle lanes) 2. Marking, warning (e.g. rail platforms, harbor areas, bridges etc.) 3. Evacuation, leadlight (e.g., tunnels, underground station facilities) 4. Vehicle lighting (e.g., bicycles, motorbikes, other two wheelers) 5. Road, traffic esthetics (e.g., roundabouts, bridges, tunnels etc.).The results from the demonstrations carried out within the project indicates a positive trend for the use of EL light in the roadside environment, especially for the darkness tests where EL panels reinforced the visibility of the objects in the road environment. The blinking light function seemed to give the best visibility in this particular test. The conclusions from this pre study points in the direction of a potential usability for the EL light technology in road traffic area. This conclusion can be derived primarily from the discussions held during the workshop. It is however yet too early to make any conclusions from the simple tests carried out in the smoke and darkness environments. Therefore the recommendation is to carry out better controlled scientific studies in a next phase. (Author/publisher)
Abstract