More than half of London’s bus shelters are now fitted with commercial LED lighting in a bid to lower energy use in the capital.

Transport for London (TfL) has revealed that switching the lights at its 12,100 bus shelters around the city will lower energy consumption by as much as 57 per cent. In addition, it will provide ten per cent brighter lighting, making them safer for passengers at nighttime. 

Deputy mayor for Transport Seb Dance said: “The roll out of greener, more environmentally friendly LED lighting at bus shelters across London marks another important step forward as TfL continues to decarbonise its operations in the run up to 2030.”

TfL intends to have finished converting all its bus shelters by next March, which will result in lowering carbon emissions by over 1,000 tonnes of CO2e every year. 

Lilli Matson, chief Safety, Health and Environment officer at TfL, noted that London “leads the way towards achieving net zero” and this move will help the capital achieve its goal. 

Figures from 2019 revealed that London produced 31.5 million tonnes of carbon that year, showing there is still a long way to go to be net-zero by 2030. 

As well as installing LED lights, it has also increased the number of zero-emission buses across the capital to more than 950. It hopes to have an entire fleet of these greener buses by 2034.

This comes after National Highways revealed plans to replace 70 per cent of traffic lights with LED bulbs by 2027.