Description

Creation of mission and goals

The goal of this Transportation Lighting Alliance (TLA) is to create a cooperative forum to perform vital research and disseminate information with an objective voice. Research focus will be on vehicle and roadway lighting and visibility. Its purpose will be to advance and improve lighting specification, design, testing, and practice, particularly targeting the newest topics in the field.

The TLA will implement change by:

• Vertical integration of research ideas from source all the way through to application
• Interfacing with other areas interested in roadway visibility
• Interacting as a body with regulatory and standard setting organizations
• Cutting through red tape

Formation of this TLA provides members with:

• A smaller, responsive working group to identify and address common issues
• An opportunity to network with relevant manufacturers and government organizations
• The ability to interact with researchers and students who are future leaders and recruits
• Updates of latest research findings
• Access to LRC personnel and resources

Advisory Board

The advisory board will be made up of one representative from each participating organization, plus the head of the LRC’s Transportation Lighting Group. TLA policy decisions and research efforts will be decided upon by consensus of the advisory board.

Membership

Membership number is limited in this organization. The total membership number will be between 10 and 15 organizations, with the final number decided upon by the advisory board. Once the quota of members is reached, new members may be admitted at the discretion of existing members. Consideration will be given to the composition of the membership group, with emphasis on a balance between source manufacturers, lamp manufacturers, OEMs, and government agencies.

Funding

The membership fee is $30K per year. The membership fee for members who are LRC Partners is $15K per year. A 3-year commitment provides an additional $5K discount per year.

Meetings

The TLA will meet semi-annually with interim phone conferences as needed. One meeting is to be held at the LRC, the other location will be decided per members’ choice.

Research project structure

The advisory board will define cooperative research projects with scopes to be decided upon by the LRC in accordance with available funding. Votes will be cast to identify projects; a research agenda will then be developed by the LRC according to the accepted effort plan. Each member of the advisory board will be given two votes. A two-vote system will help to reduce the number of ties and will also aid in determining the TLA’s primary and secondary project focus.

The project or research area receiving the most votes will be the TLA’s primary focus and receive most of the group’s effort. The project or research area receiving the second highest number of votes will be the TLA’s secondary focus, resulting in a smaller effort. As the primary research effort is completed the secondary effort may shift in importance and further effort will be applied. The TLA’s secondary effort will be identified as the first option for the following year’s research identification. All projects receiving votes will be identified and carried over for the following year’s research identification process.

Research strategy

The TLA will explore new areas where immediate impact can be made through our cooperative efforts.

For more information please contact:

John Bullough, Ph.D. Director, Transportation and Safety Lighting Programs Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 21 Union Street Troy, NY 12180 USA bulloj@rpi.edu Phone (518) 276-7138 Fax (518) 276-7199

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