The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Thursday it will install red light bulbs along passenger platforms at more stations in the coming weeks.
Metro General Manager John Catoe believes the new bulbs, which will replace traditional white ones, improve safety on the transit system.
“We continue the next phase of installation of the new LED lights, we hope our customers will take note of the red platform edge lights and step away,” Catoe said. “When they see the red lights, I’ve observed that customers stop, and keep a safer distance from the edge of the platform.”
Metro installed red lights at the Gallery Place station as a pilot project in February.
The next stations to receive the new platform lights will be Fort Totten, L’Enfant Plaza, Metro Center, Smithsonian, Union Station, Stadium-Armory and Eisenhower Avenue.
The LED bulbs are expected to last 10 to 12 years before burning out.
They shine at half-strength most of the time and flash at 100-percent power when a train is approaching or leaving the platform. Metro spends $63 per bulb but expects the new lights to save $100,000 annually because they last so long.
“We wanted to find a technology that would lower our maintenance costs and reduce the number of times we must take a track out of service to install the platform edge lights,” said David Knights, Metro’s general superintendent of track and structures and systems maintenance. “Another benefit is reducing energy consumption which has a direct benefit of lower electricity costs for the authority.”
