On 8 October in Lviv, a 24-hour test began of traffic lights operating in a full power-outage mode. For the duration of the test, the traffic light units have been disconnected from the main power supply, and they are now running exclusively on uninterruptible power supply units. In this way, the city is checking how prepared its transport infrastructure is for possible prolonged power cuts.
The Lviv City Council’s Department of Urban Mobility and Street Infrastructure reported that over 24 hours, specialists from the LCE “Lvivavtodor” Traffic Control Centre will monitor the condition of the equipment and record the actual autonomous operating time of each traffic light unit.
“We are essentially simulating a prolonged power outage and, over 24 hours, checking how the traffic lights function without the main power supply. Our task is to ensure that even under such conditions, movement in the city remains safe and manageable,” said Mykola Vlasiuk
In total, 178 traffic light units have been installed in Lviv, amounting to approximately 2,500 individual traffic lights, and all of them are connected to backup power. The autonomous operation of the entire network is provided by 166 uninterruptible power supply units, some of which simultaneously power two units.
This kind of large-scale test of the traffic light system in Lviv was carried out for the first time a year ago. That test lasted a day and a half and demonstrated high autonomy: most traffic light units were able to operate continuously on backup power for about 24 hours.