Lighting Infrastructure Technology Group
About LIT
The Lighting Infrastructure Technology Group performs research in the areas of Roadway Lighting, Pavement Markings, Signage and Nighttime Driver Performance. The Group's expertise lies in the measurement of real world performance of drivers and their responses to different technologies used on the roadway in rain, snow and fog, during nighttime and daytime, and under various lighting conditions. Driver performance is then related to the physical and photometric characteristics of the tested objects.
About the Director
Dr. Gibbons is an expert in lighting and visibility and serves as the Lighting
and Infrastructure Technology Group Leader within CVIS. He is currently PI on projects
including studies on lighting design, crosswalk visibility, and the wet
night visibility of pavement markings. Dr. Gibbons has authored papers on
roadway lighting, photometry and target visibility. He is Vice President
for Education Activities of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North
America and the secretary of the United States National Committee of the
Commission Internationale d'Eclairage.
Prior to joining VTTI, Dr. Gibbons worked with Philips Lighting Company
as manager of the Corporate Calibration and Standards Laboratory. Gibbons
obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 1998. His
research involved the reflection properties of pavement and the impact on
target visibility.
LITAP
In 2006, VTTI and NSTSCE began the Lighting and Infrastructure Technology Affiliates Program (LITAP), a consortium of VTTI and industry partners who work to develop and maintain an active research program to meet the needs of the industry. The consortium allows organizations to leverage their research funds through membership fees to perform cooperative research that will significantly impact the industry and the nation by improving roadway lighting, delineation and signage.
Please e-mail us or call (540) 231-1581 for more information or if you are interested in becoming a member of LITAP.
Current Work
Warning Lights - Maintenance vehicle visibility
is being tested with alternative lighting designs; conspicuity is measured
in several different weather conditions.
FMVSS108 Rewrite - Acting as the primary organization on this NHTSA project, LIT is overseeing the work of a subcontractor in reorganizing and rewriting the federal regulation on the lighting and marking of vehicles. This rewrite represents a simplification of the law, but does not allow for any changes in the substance of the law.
Previous Work
Enhanced Night Visibility - The Enhanced Night Visibility
project was a comprehensive activity investigating the impact of a variety
of vision enhancement systems on driver visibility and safety. The vision
enhancement systems included Ultraviolet-A headlamps, High Intensity Discharge
Headlamps, and Infrared vision systems. The 18-volume final report has been
submitted to the Federal Highway Administration and is available through
their website.
Previous Work
WetVis I & II - This 2-part project assessed the performance of six pavement markings under rain conditions in a static setting (i.e., vehicle parked). The project's follow-on, Wet Visibility II, evaluated four of the six pavement markings while driving on the Smart Road in rain from the weather-making system. The results of these studies may be used in a VDOT guidelines document for wet night visibility of pavement markings.
Crosswalk I & II - Crosswalk I assessed the driver's ability to detect pedestrians in a crosswalk in a static setting under different crosswalk lighting and glare scenarios. The follow-on, Crosswalk II, evaluated the driver's ability to detect pedestrians in a crosswalk while driving on the Smart Road under different overhead lighting, crosswalk lighting, and oncoming vehicle glare scenarios. The results of this study may be instrumental in updating current federal crosswalk lighting guidelines.