Dutch City Transforms Bus Stops Into Bee Stops

Culture

By Michiel de Gooijer

In the Dutch city Utrecht, 316 bus stops now have a green roof. They not only look great, but they also help capture fine dust, storage of rainwater and provide cooling in the summertime.

It is one of many measures that could improve Utrecht’s air quality. Did you know that after smoking, an unhealthy environment (including bad air quality) is the second cause of diseases in the Netherlands?

Watch the video at the bottom of this article.

BrightVibes

More Biodiversity

The green roofs of Utrecht’s bus stops have also become bee stops and contribute to the city’s biodiversity, supporting insects like honey bees and bumblebees.

BrightVibes

Sedum Plants

The roofs mainly have sedum plants. They are maintained by municipal workers who drive around in electric vehicles.

BrightVibes

LED Lights

The bus stops are outfitted with efficient led lights and a bamboo bench.

Better Buses

Recently Utrecht has replaced 10 diesel buses for electric buses. Utrecht aims to only operate CO2-neutral buses by 2028. In the meantime, Utrecht incentivizes bus drivers to adapt to a more environmentally friendly driving style. The buses register how efficient and comfortable each bus driver operates the bus, and based on how well they drive, they can “win” prizes the cleaner, more comfortable and safer they drive.

Provincie Utrecht

More Electric Buses

Utrecht is expanding the number of buses powered by electricity. The electricity used by Utrecht comes from Dutch windmills.

Utrecht.nl

Your Own Green Roof

The citizens of Utrecht are incentivized to transform their own roofs into green roofs too and can apply for special subsidies.

Dutch City turns bus stops into bee stops

This Dutch city has transformed its bus 🚌 stops into bee 🐝 stops 🌼👉🏽ecowatch.com/dutch-city-bus-stops-into-bee-stopsBrightVibes

Posted by EcoWatch on Monday, July 8, 2019

And How About Bee Stings?

Speaking from personal experience, the bees are attracted by the plants and flowers on the roof, not by the people sitting underneath the roof. And as you can read here, in general bees are not aggressive at all. They are often mistaken for the more aggressive wasps, but there really is no need to fear these busy bees on these bus stop green roofs.

Reposted with permission from our media associate BrightVibes.

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