Traditional light bulbs inside the city's traffic signals could soon be replaced with longer-lasting light emitting diode (LED) lamps.
Hong Kong-based Cotco Holdings, which manufactures LED lamps and other products on the mainland, has been lobbying the government to make the switch, arguing that cost savings could be achieved in the long term.
A LED lamp burns for about 100,000 hours before it has to be replaced, compared with up to 10,000 hours for traditional bulbs.
Cotco has submitted a proposal to the Transport Department and is awaiting feedback from other government bodies. LED lamps are used in the mainland, Singapore, Europe and the United States. The lights - producing red, amber and bluish-green colours - had a high luminosity but low power consumption, said Cotco general manager Richard Sy.
The lamps have just one panel for all three colours, instead of the three bulbs found inside traditional signals.
'The government should switch as early as possible to save the cost of replacement, so it won't need to send engineers to change the bulbs so often,' Mr Sy said.