At the end of September Poland debuted a new kind of bike lane that blows the rest of them out of the water. The bike lanes actually glow in the dark with a glittery blue sheen. During the day the sunlight naturally charges the material, which gives it enough juice to glow for ten hours, or through the night.
The design uses a particle called luminophores, and was created by the TPA Laboratory. Currently the design is being tested for its resiliency in an area of Poland called Mazury where there are a lot of bike paths around the lakes in the area.
If everything goes well with this first round of testing for resiliency, the bike paths will be rolled out in more places and hopefully make their way around the world. Obviously there a lot of benefits to a technology like this working out.
For one thing, it’s a lot safer for bikers. For another thing relying on solar power as opposed to overhead lighting is energy efficient and cost efficient for any city that it is using it. And the color of the path can actually be changed, the blue was chosen in this case to compliment the lakes in the area.
The TPA President and CEO Igor Ruttmar explained their motives in creating the option.
“We hope that the glowing bicycle path will help prevent bicycle and pedestrian accidents at night. It’s a problem here in Poland, especially in the areas farther from the cities that are darker and more invisible in the night.”
