How is HID ‘dead’ when it is still commonly used?

The HID technology is 1940s (MBF) and 1960s (SON) tech, far outdated when compared to the (at earliest) 2000s LED tech, which has drastic reliability and efficiency improvements every few years. Take the RAB Triboro for example, this mid 2010s lantern had as low as 97LPW efficiency while the 2024 GE ERNC has up to 175 LPW.

What I'm trying to say is that LED is far superior to HID. HID technology is far outdated when compared to LED technologies and (at least in Australia), there are NO lighting maintainers who still install HID, and very few who repair HID. While this isn't to say that I don't love HID, LED is better at lighting the roads.

Links:
Triboro
https://www.rablighting.com/product/TBLED4T32YRG/480/D10/PCT4
ERNC
https://cdn.currentlighting.com/site/specsheet/EVO_OLP3239_ERNC_GenA_Spec.pdf

Most of that is definitely true, but HID is better in some aspects, like maintainability, lighting distribution and in some cases, lifespan.

To be fair, I have seen whole streets lit by 50+ year old well-maintained MBF/U lanterns, the roads are as well-lit as a LED road.

How is HID ‘dead’ when it is still commonly used?

 While it may still be in use  , New HID installs are few and far between . All "new" installs I see are using leftover stock as spot replacements .

As for me, new HID installation is pretty much nonexistent sadly, since the city of Milwaukee stopped doing so in 2022. It isn’t uncommon for me to see one or two LED fixtures in an area filled with HID fixtures, however the city of Wauwatosa has been switching around used fixtures onto different poles for years.

The newest HID installation that I can think of here was when there was a NOS 2018 roadster fitted replacing a 2013 roadster in 2023. I believe this fitting was used because either A: It falls under the parliamentary area, and therefore has different replacement standards to regular roads. Or B: It falls under the parliamentary area and is maintained by the NCA (National Capital Authority), rather than the city's contractor. Either way, a short time later, they began installing NOS NXT-Ms and now just regular NOS (2018) Roadflairs. (They way overordered for the upgrade LOL!)
https://www.google.com/maps/@-35.2878339,149.1275808,3a,15.1y,197.96h,115.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stxkskMCO_0GpScNQnTucYQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

So you’re saying they might be owned by the federal government?

Oh yes, all of Canberra's lights are owned by the ACT government (The area). There was a failed sale a few years ago.

Thanks for the info! Most of the ones in my area are owned by municipalities and my local utility company.