Evaluating the Impact of Improved Roadway Lighting on Nighttime Driver Behavior and Pedestrian Safety
Nighttime crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists remain a significant safety concern, with 76% of pedestrian fatalities occurring in low-light conditions. Insufficient roadway lighting exacerbates visibility challenges, increasing crash risks for vulnerable road users (VRUs). Research indicates that enhancing street lighting can reduce pedestrian injuries by up to 50%; however, many urban corridors remain inadequately lit, leaving pedestrians and cyclists at heightened risk. While improved roadway lighting is widely recognized as a potential countermeasure to enhance safety, existing studies rely primarily on crash data, which often lack the granularity needed to isolate its direct safety effects. Despite its intuitive benefits, empirical evidence quantifying the real-world safety impacts of lighting improvements remains limited. Understanding how enhanced lighting influences crash rates, driver behavior, and pedestrian perceptions is essential for guiding infrastructure investments and policy decisions. This study aims to evaluate the safety effects of improved roadway lighting by analyzing changes in nighttime crash rates, driver behavior, and pedestrian perceptions. With support from the City of Milwaukee, corridors within the Pedestrian High-Injury Network (HIN) will be identified as study sites. Using a before-and-after observational study design combined with surveys, this research will examine the relationship between enhanced street lighting and safety outcomes for VRUs. The research seeks to answer the following questions: How does improved roadway lighting impact VRU nighttime safety? Diminishing returns effect: Does the initial reduction in nighttime crashes decline over time as behavioral adaptation and other risk factors emerge? Spillover effect: Do safety benefits extend beyond the treated area, or does the intervention inadvertently shift risk to other locations or behaviors? What behavioral changes occur among drivers and VRUs in response to improved lighting? How do road users perceive the effectiveness of increased roadway lighting in terms of safety and comfort? By addressing these questions, this study will generate data-driven insights into the role of roadway lighting in improving nighttime safety. Findings will inform policy and infrastructure decisions while supporting Milwaukee and other cities in their efforts to create safer, more accessible urban environments for VRUs.
- Record URL:
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $60,005.00
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Contract Numbers:
69A3552348336
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Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Stearns, Amy
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Performing Organizations:
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Department of Urban Planning/Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation
Milwaukee, WI United States -
Principal Investigators:
Li, Yang
- Start Date: 20251201
- Expected Completion Date: 20261130
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bicycle safety; Pedestrian safety; Street lighting; Vulnerable road users
- Geographic Terms: Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
- Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01971434
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
- Contract Numbers: 69A3552348336
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Nov 17 2025 2:39PM