These “living roofs” are already inspiring other North American cities.
From the article:
It’s a simple concept: Use the roof of a no-frills bus station to offset the heat-island effect in urban areas devoid of trees, provide direct shade at bus shelters, help reduce flooding, improve biodiversity of native pollinators, and see something a little more beautiful on the daily commute. Boston made history as the first city in the United States to adopt the green roof last year, sometimes called “living roofs,” and have already made waves in other locations. This year, according to the Washington Post, green shelters are planned in two Maryland towns, with proposals to install green roofs in Arlington, Virginia and New York. While it seems like a small gesture to the bees of any given city, the initiative is no small feat. In fact, if Boston installed living roofs on all 8,000 of its bus stops, the city estimates it would amount to 17 acres of green space, or about 13 football fields.
While this may seem like a little thing, it's a great proof of concept that could be expanded on. Green roofs do an amazing job of cooling environments while absorbing CO2 without the energy inputs and upkeep that would be required for fans or air conditioning. Especially in urban environments where there is little shade or green space.
These kind of shelters have already been implemented in several places in Europe, but Boston is the first US city to add green roofs to bus stops.
The rooves will have low-growing plants to absorb carbon dioxide and remove pollution from the air.
