Green Roof Bus Shelter Demonstration Project
San Francisco, CA
The objective of the Green Roof Bus Shelter Demonstration Project is to bring the concept of green roofs literally “down to street level”—to raise awareness of the benefits of green roofs, provide attractive waiting spaces for public transit riders, and improve urban environmental quality. The project proposes to install native, low-maintenance plants on top of the city’s bus shelters. The roofs of San Francisco’s 2,000 bus shelters could provide over two acres of green space. Imagine the citywide beautification and sense of civic pride that is possible through the simple project of greening our bus shelters! The second image above shows San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at the ribbon-cutting for a green roof bus shelter, as part of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences citywide opening ceremony’s week in 2008.
The Green Roof Bus Shelter Demonstration Project proposes to increase the amount of green space in the city by bringing native plantings onto the roofs of San Francisco’s bus shelters. These green roofs would help transform the city’s bus shelters from simple advertising and waiting areas into beautiful, fresh, educational, thought-provoking places.
The project would transform Market Street into a greener public space. It would add to the city’s sense of civic pride and enrich the experience of waiting for the bus. Imagine waiting for your bus beneath a bed native California plants, filtering the air and attracting butterflies and other wildlife. Local merchants would have the opportunity to contribute to a citywide beautification, by planting flowers on the bus shelters in front of their stores.
A descriptive poster inside each shelter would teach the citizens of San Francisco and other visitors about the benefits of living green roofs and would list further educational resources. The success of the Green Roof Bus Shelter Demonstration Project could influence the city’s administration and open the door to greening a myriad of other city infrastructure—from native and drought-resistant plantings at all city-owned structures, to solar powered stoplights and street lamps, to rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation.