Roof helps slow rain runoff and control temperature.
The city of Buffalo is making public transportation a little greener by planting a garden on top of a bus shelter.
The stop at North Division and Ellicott is covered with a variety of sedums, a hardy succulent that requires little water or care. The green roof not only adds a little natural beauty to the streets, but also slows rain water runoff and keeps the shelter a few degrees warmer in the winter.
And it gets better: the roof is also equipped with a solar panel that powers the lights for the advertisement on the shelter’s side.
The project cost several thousand dollars, and could be the first of many like it in the city, and the rest of the country.
"This is a small feasibility project so we can evaluate how well it works before we put it on some other, much larger facilities," Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s Kimberley Minkel told Buffalo News. "Buffalo is a very green city, and I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for how progressive we are when it comes to different environmental initiatives."