FHWA GREENLIGHTS DIGITAL BILLBOARDS
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(Washington, DC) – This week, the Federal Highway Administration issued clear guidance authorizing digital billboards. The memo says the high-tech signs are not flashing or intermittent.

The four-page September 25 documentis signed by FHWA Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment, and Realty Gloria M. Shepherd. The highlighted portion of the memo reads: “Proposed laws, regulations, and procedures that would allow permitting CEVMS (commercial electronic variable message signs) subject to acceptable criteria (as described below) do not violate a prohibition against ‘intermittent’ or ‘flashing’ or ‘moving’ lights as those terms are used in the various FSAs (federal-state agreements) that have been entered into during the 1960s and 1970s.” (Click here to read the full story)

Wichita Business Journal - June 22, 2007 - You may have never heard of light emitting diodes, but you see them every day. LEDs are the small light bulbs in your cell phones, digital clocks and traffic lights. They are a versatile tool in electronics.

Unlike ordinary bulbs, LEDs don't burn out. They never even really get hot, except in the world of advertising, where they are helping to cast a newer -- brighter -- light on how to convey a message. You can hardly drive anywhere in Wichita without seeing some kind of LED sign or billboard. Some of them have a basic, Lite-Brite appearance. Others, like the 14-by-48-foot billboard above the Starbucks on Central and Rock Road, have television quality.

The electronic displays are similar to a regular billboard, except the displays may change every six to 10 seconds. (Click here to read full story...)