Established in 1925, the Bureau of Street Lighting (Department of Public Works) has the overall responsibility for the design, installation, maintenance and operation of street lighting in the City of Los Angeles on behalf of its residents.

In its simplest terms, a streetlight is a piece of infrastructure, today usually a pole and a bulb, in the right-of-way that shines light. Streetlights are complex electrical systems beyond what you see – every streetlight in Los Angeles is connected to a vast underground network of 9,000 miles of conduit containing 27,000 miles of copper wire that distribute energy all over the City. Streetlights also have multiple benefits, such as:
1. Improved public safety with adequate lighting
2. Beautified and inviting public spaces
3. A platform enabling new technologies improving public services.

Los Angeles has over 220,000 streetlights covering 2/3rds of the City – nearly 4,500 miles of streets. Each streetlight is connected underground by a vast network of around 9,000 miles of conduit and 27,000 miles of copper wire.

Street lighting in the City of Los Angeles is considered a special benefit which results in the need for assessments, in contrast to other City services like Fire Suppression (funded by the General Fund via taxes) or Sanitation (funded by fees). Property owners that benefit from streetlights are assessed annually via property taxes to pay for the cost of operating, repairing and maintaining the City’s streetlighting system. The capital costs of creating the streetlighting system is separate to which funding must be identified.

Until the mid-1950’s, the City did not require developers of housing, commercial and industrial property to install street lighting. Thus, most streets in older neighborhoods in the City do not have street lights unless the developer voluntarily installed them, or a neighborhood group or their Council Office started a project to install them at the property owners’ expense. Only those who have street lighting pay for it. Through the purchase of a property which has street lighting, or through an assessment for a street lighting project, property owners pay for installation of street lighting in the City of LA. Maintenance costs are assessed annually. This is not paid for from the basic property taxes or other taxes. New assessments, or changes to existing assessments, require a vote of the affected property owners in compliance with Proposition 218, now part of the California Constitution.

Nearly all lamps in Los Angeles are using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The Bureau of Street Lighting was a pioneer and early adopter of LED technology to replace aging or burned out lamps in an effort to save energy, reduce CO2 emissions, and reduce operating cost. They are about 63% more efficient than high pressure sodium lamps (HPS), incandescent lamps, and mercury vapor lamps. LED lamps can come in different colors, but are generally set at a “warmer” color temperature in the City, mimicking older lamps. They also do not attract flying insects the way other lamps do. Replacement LED lamps are designed to provide more illumination than the lamps that are being replaced and generally have a longer lifespan (at least 10 years, almost five times longer than HPS lamps).

There are over 400 different designs of streetlights in the City of Los Angeles that range from shorter candelabra-like concrete pedestrian lighting to arterial streetlights that are made of steel and are 40 feet tall. The majority of streetlights are smooth with a modern design. To view the different types of streetlights in L.A. take a virtual tour of our Streetlight Museum.

Streetlights today are advanced pieces of infrastructure and can include intelligent LED lighting, sensors ranging (ranging from air quality, to cameras), solar charging systems, telecommunications equipment, EV chargers, and other technology attachments.

YES. In fact, according to a randomized control trial conducted by the University of Chicago “increased levels of lighting led to a 36% reduction in "index crimes"
— a subset of serious felony crimes that includes murder, robbery and aggravated assault, as well as certain property crimes — that took place outdoors at night in developments that received new lighting, with an overall 4% percent reduction in index crimes.”
(https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/crime-lights-study)

Maintaining and improving LA’s street lights will also help keep traffic safer between dusk and dawn. Pedestrian and traffic safety is considerably reduced in the hours of darkness. Various studies have concluded that good quality street lighting reduces the accident rate by increasing overall visibility. Driving at night is more dangerous: only a quarter of all travel by car drivers is between the hours of 7pm and 8am, yet this period accounts for 40% of fatal and serious injuries.¹

Yes, brightly lit areas make us feel safer. Improved and well-maintained street lighting will enhance commercial properties because well-lit areas are more welcoming and feel safer to customers.²

Streetlights have more value and uses than may be easily seen. Because streetlights have an extensive power distribution system, are placed next to the right-of-way, and have extra energy capacity because of the use of LEDs, there is tremendous opportunity to meet California’s and the City’s aggressive goals of environmental sustainability through transportation electrification. Seeing this potential, the City of Los Angeles began a streetlight EV charging station pilot program in 2017, which today has become one of the largest networks of municipally-owned public charging stations in the country. The Bureau of Street Lighting is continuing to expand its network of chargers for ubiquitous and equitable coverage.

Streetlights have more value and uses than may be easily seen. Because streetlights have an extensive power distribution system, are placed next to the right-of-way, and have height, they can be used for a multitude of purposes. One of the most basic attachments are signs and medallions.These attachments can help beautify an area, identify landmarks or locations, and can help with wayfinding. More advanced attachments can include string lights or other decorative lights, air quality sensors, and even telecommunications infrastructure. These advanced attachments take advantage of existing infrastructure throughout the City in order to minimize public right-of-way clutter while providing new or different services. The Bureau of Street Lighting is responsible for the permitting and approval of attachments to its infrastructure. In the case of telecommunications infrastructure, Federal and State Laws restrict the Bureau’s ability to deny their attachments.

Virtually all lamps in Los Angeles are using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The Bureau of Street Lighting was a pioneer and early adopter of LED technology to replace aging or burned out lamps in an effort to save energy, reduce CO2 emissions, and reduce operating cost. They are about 63% more efficient than high pressure sodium lamps (HPS), incandescent lamps, and mercury vapor lamps. LED lamps can come in different colors, but are generally set at a “warmer” color temperature in the City, mimicking older lamps. They also do not attract flying insects the way other lamps do. Replacement LED lamps are designed to provide more illumination than the lamps that are being replaced and generally have a longer lifespan (at least 10 years, almost five times longer than HPS lamps).