In this commercial part of Vegas/Henderson, NV- I noted the streetlights look like linear fluorescent.. What do you think?  

That's an induction luminaire.

Yep it's induction, they are like a florescent for the most part only no electrodes to wear so they will do like a 100,000 hours before needing a replacement, actually the drivers usually fail before the lamp does.. 

You can see the guts of one here, I don't know if it's the same wattage but you'll get the idea, http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2889&pos=1&pid=122968

COOL!  Here's to alternatives to LED streetlights!  (I still like properly colored LEDs though) 

I think this induction light may really be better overall than LED ones-at least with induction lamps-you can replace the lamp or ballast.

Isnt it more efficient to use MH ? (which works well with HID reflectors ?)

While i think Induction is cool, this is just a proof that the mindset is that WAHTEVER new lighting there is out there, it must me more energy saving than "old technology" (even compared to fairly recent developments in that "old technology"), even when not optimal for the application...

With that said, i seen a city here lit with similar tubes and the lighting is good - its just that they could save even more with MH

Hid is slightly better, but there is also the cost of re-lamping them and you only need one service call for an induction verses the 6 or HID, so while everyone here doesn't mind changing a lamp or two, for a business it's a cost they like to avoid.. But if you want energy saving lamps just use LPS there is still nothing with the lumens / watt to match it and it's held that title for the last what 60 years or better...

But inductions do have nice lighting a good CRI and are pretty reliable, and if protected will start in cooler temps, although they don't really care much of -40, and some people have reported them dimming over time, but just about every light source, even LED's suffer this same issue so they are good option if you want a long term lighting solutions.. 

HID lamps last better than that

Loop shaped Induction lamps are best used where there is no need in significant beam shaping - wide area floodlighting and most of indoor lighting. QL lamps are closer match for coated HID lamps, so are better in the applications with some beam shaping - posttops and more indoor applications

For precision reflectors of FCO road lanterns the clear HID are better : small light source size which is virtually suspended in the focus point of the reflector, and clear lamp envelope that does not block the reflected light some of which is going through

They will last longer if your willing to run them to EOL, but doing call outs for spot re-lamping is an even larger expense, a business will really save money by doing a group re-lamp since most of the cost is getting the service people out there and equipment set up, and if it's done before the tubes start to blow out it also saves replacing failed gear and globes plus with a group re-lamp all the lamps are then the same color and brightness so they look better...

I based the service life on 16,000 hours for HID and 100,000 on induction so it's about 6 to 1 and most nice CMH hids run between 12,000 to 18,000 hours depending on if you use magnetic or electronic ballast..