SECTION 13

TRANSPORTATION LIGHTING
The general principles of interior and exterior lighting set forth in Sections
10 and 11 are, for the most part, applicable in the transportation field.
Some practical problems of great importance encountered in applying the
principles to vehicles and the paths over which they travel appear to
complicate the means of achieving desired results because, since they are
of less consequence in other application fields, they are less familiar. For
example, power-supply characteristics and capacities of automobiles,
airplanes, and railway trains often make difficult and expensive the pro-
vision (by means of standard types of light sources) of interior illumination
of recommended quantity and quality. The tremendous areas and the
intermittent use of transportation pathways and their exposure to a wide
variety of weather conditions are factors which should be considered care-
fully in applying the general principles in practical designs.
Lighting of Vehicles
Regardless of the vehicle, there are separate considerations for the
lighting supplied primarily for passenger use, comfort, or safety, and that
supplied primarily to assist the vehicle operator in the performance of his
duties.
The following characteristics of vehicles, though not common to all
types, are influential with respect to lighting
:
1. Direct-current power supplies are commonly used because batteries
are needed for stand-by operation and because of the desirable character-
istics of d-c motor operation.
2. Equipment costs, fuel economy, space limitations, and similar factors
call for highly efficient utilization of available energy.
3. Most vehicles have low ceilings.
4. Many vehicles are designed for mass production rather than custom
construction.
5. In most vehicles the field of view of most occupants is fixed.
6. Individual passenger occupancy usually is of short duration.
AUTOMOBILE LIGHTING
Most automobiles depend on a three-cell (6-volt) wet storage battery,
kept charged by a d-c generator driven by the car engine. The capacity
of such a battery is limited although the demand for heaters, radios, and
other special devices has materially increased the capacity in recent years.
A single wire grounded wiring system is commonly used. (See Fig. 13-1.)
Illumination of Passenger Automobiles
Interior illumination. The average person does not expect to read or
write continuously in a passenger automobile, either while driving or
while the vehicle is parked. Therefore, installations have been planned to
provide illumination for casual inspection of road maps and other printed
Note: References are listed at the end of each section.