Should public lighting be turned off at night to reduce the energy bill and light pollution? Or leave the streetlights on to fight against the feeling of insecurity? On this point, opinions and approaches diverge in each of the 35,000 French municipalities. But rather than decide, some communities have chosen the path of compromise by adopting on-demand ignition solutions, such as installing motion sensors on streetlights.
In Urrugne (Basque Country), Pont-de-l’Arche (Eure), Epron (Calvados) and in certain districts of Lisieux, a more original system has been put in place. In these municipalities, it is indeed the inhabitants who turn on the public lighting themselves using their smartphone when they go out to walk their dog or come home a little late in the evening. The app, called “I light up my street”was developed in 2016 by Olivier Bozzetto, a resident of Pont-de-l’Arche.
“Participatory and non-punitive ecology”
At the time, the debate was raging in his town to know whether or not to turn off the lighting at night. “I didn’t have a firm opinion on the question, recognizes the computer engineer. On the one hand, I found it interesting to participate in the savings of the municipality while doing an ecological action. But on the other hand, I also wanted as a citizen to have light in my street at night”. In the middle of a dilemma, Olivier Bozzetto has therefore hacked a solution in his garage allowing the inhabitants to manage the public lighting themselves.
“I see it as participatory and non-punitive ecology,” he says. And this allows people to get involved in the management of their municipality. “For five years, the inhabitants of this small town in the Eure have therefore become accustomed to turning on the lampposts in their street with a simple click on their smartphone if the need arises at night. “It works thanks to a geolocation system, which allows only the lights located near the user to be turned on,” explains the computer engineer. And fifteen minutes later, it automatically turns off. »
No negative feedback in Urrugne
Marketed by the Photon Group company, the “I light up my street” application is now used in around ten municipalities including Urrugne, located between Hendaye and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which acquired it at the end of 2021. “We were trying to fight against light pollution, which has harmful effects on biodiversity,” says Nikolas Regerat, deputy in charge of ecological transition and works. But also to save money because public lighting is a very important item in the budget of a municipality”.
First tested in three districts, the application has now been rolled out to almost the entire municipality. And the locals seem to get along with it. “We did not have any negative feedback in any case, which is a rather good sign”, smiles the elected official, a supporter of small daily gestures. “It’s like at home, we use the light only when we need it,” he says. Good for the planet, the device is also good for the finances of the municipality which “has saved 35,000 euros since the beginning of the year”.
With soaring energy prices, other communities are preparing to take the plunge, such as Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) which will test the application from October 5 in a district of the city. “This concerns for the moment fourteen streets and we will take stock at the end of April to see if we generalize the system to other districts”, specifies Nadia Druillennec, assistant in charge of the works. Each municipality managing its own parameters, the light will automatically turn off after six minutes in Saint-Brieuc. “It’s a test for now, we’ll see if we need to adjust the duration,” she said.