Glow-In-The-Dark Roads

This is a really great idea.  Biology does this pretty universally. In fact if you are in the forest and there is no light at all, your eyes will adjust downward to the point that it is possible to disturb forest loam to make a visible trail for yourself.  This is real handy if you want to prepare a path for yourself to use without artificial light

Thus optimizing the same effect and concentrating it within paint is a very sound idea.  I am pleased that they can still be effective in the presence of headlamps.  I would have expected a problem there.

I suspect that this will catch on rather quickly as well simply because it will be popular.  People do go out in the dark and this certainly can make bike lanes safer.

The Netherlands Is Experimenting With Glow-In-The-Dark Roads

ALYSON PENN 

 APR. 14, 2014,

http://www.businessinsider.com/netherlands-glow-in-the-dark-road-2014-4

The Netherlands has come up with a brilliant way to save money and energy on road lighting: glow-in-the-dark paint.

For the first time ever, light-up lines have been painted on a brief stretch of highway in Oss, southeast of Amsterdam. 

According to the BBC, the paint contains a "photo-luminising" powder that charges up in the daytime, releasing a green glow for up to eight hours at night. 

Interactive artist Daan Roosegaarde and Dutch civil engineering firm Heijmans worked together on the "Smart Highway" project.

"I forced them to look at movies of jellyfish. How does a jellyfish give light? It has no solar panel, it has no energy bill," Roosegaarde told the BBC. "And then we went back to the drawing board and came up with these paints which charge up in the daytime and give light at night," he said.

The official launch date for the project is set for later this month. The technology is expected to expand internationally later this year.

Here's a GIF showing how the lights work: