The world's first glow in the dark bike path has opened in the Netherlands.
This illuminated new path, also called the Roosegaarde Van Gogh Bike Path, was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's iconic 1889 waiting 'Starry Night.' The path was also commemorated in honor of the 125th anniversary of Van Gogh's death.
The head designer, Daan Roosegaarde, was able to make this path come to life with the help of a Dutch construction company called Heijmans.
Thousands of swirling green and blue stones illuminate the path, taking bike riders away in the same way Van Gogh's painting does. The bike path is a kilometer long route between two water mills in Nuenen, a town where Van Gogh was born and lived his life.
"I wanted to create a place that people will experience in a special way, the technical combined with experience, that is what techno-poetry means to me," says Roosegaarde.
The cycle service is solar powered and saves power from the sunlight during the day to then help power the colorful lights at night with the help of the smart paint technologies.
Charging all day, the path glows nearly all night. When it goes out, or when clouds prevent the array from charging, an auxiliary power can fuel it's light.
The project launched earlier November 2014 in hopes that the bike path will lead to more solar-powered roadways that are designed to store clean energy and keep commuters safe.
They also envision energy efficient designs and infrastructures that use visual information to tell the user about road and weather conditions. All of the paths will use paint that absorbs light during the days and emits light at night.
