WHAT IS BUS ROOTS?
Reconnecting urban communities with nature in a practical and playful way. Bus roots is a public and playful project that uses plants as a creative medium.

BUS ROOTS TIME LAPSE VIDEO

It connects the citizens with their community while trying to use the least amount of resources and improving the quality of the environment around it.

PURPOSE
Reclaim forgotten space, increase quality of life and grow the amount of green spaces in the city.

BENEFITS OF PLANT LIFE IN THE CITY
Aesthetic Value
Mitigation of Urban Heat Island Effect
Acoustical and Thermal Insulation
Storm Water Reduction
CO2 absorbtion
Habitat Restoration
Storm Water Management
Public Education and Recreation
Reclaiming Forgotten Real Estate

THE CITY AS A LIVING ORGANISM
Natural life, such as plants and animals, is not very common in the city. Most urban environments are lined with concrete, steel and asphalt. These materials help increase the temperature and pollution in the cities. Some cities, like New York, have no surface to grow more green spaces.

PLANTS IN MOTION
Little research was found on the effects that motion has on plants. Bus Roots is an interesting excercise to talk around the following topics:

Nomadic and Urban Agriculture
Environmental Remediation
New models of life and education
Migration Patterns
Transportation

GREEN ROOFS
Green roofs and vertical gardens have been used as solution to provide green life to space constrained spaces.

In general, there are two types of green roof setups, intensive and extensive.
Intensive green roofs have more plant diversity but need more soil and care.
Extensive green roofs can have a more limited plant selection but have a lighter weight and need less maintenance.

However, even if green roofs and vertical gardens could be added to every house and building in the city. The arteries, the streets, can’t be lined with grass or living materials.

RAISING THE ROOTS
A public transit bus has a surface of 340 ft2. The MTA fleet has around 4,500 buses.

If we grew a garden on the roof of every one of the 4,500 buses in the MTA bus fleet, we would have 35 acres of new rolling green space in the city.

The equivalent to Four Bryant Parks.

THE PROTOTYPE
The first prototype has been installed on the roof of the BioBus. It is the first bus with an extensive green roof system. It has been growing for five months travelling around New York City and as far as Ohio, so far.

SEEKING SUPPORT
If you would like to know more or would like to support the project please feel free to add your name to the mailing list or get in touch at:

www.busroots.org

http://www.flickr.com/photos/busroots

www.marcocastrocosio.org
marco.castro@nyu.edu

PRESS REVIEWS
Bus Roots has been reviewed in the following blogs:

PSFK
Huffington Post
World Science Festival
Scienceline
Garoli
Steering News
Idealize.nl

COMPETITIONS
Was the first runner up in the Deisgnwala Grand Idea Competition:

http://www.designwala.org/

EVENTS
Bus Roots has been with the BioBus at the following events:

Earth Fair
Worlds Science Festival
Gathering fo the Vibes (Connecticut)
Howl Festival

Bus Roots will be at:

Maker Faire New York
Green Home Block Party New York
USA Science and Engineering Festival