Happen to be in Istanbul? Then hop aboard Botobus, a new eco-friendly public transport option that features an organic rooftop garden. Introduced last week by the Istanbul Transportation Authority (IETT), the “botanical bus” embarked on its first journey between Edirnekapi and Taksim. The project aims to draw attention to global warming and the environment.
The rooftop garden absorbs direct sunlight, which reduces heat gain inside the bus. This will keep the vehicle cooler in summer and, in turn, reduces demand for mechanical air conditioning. The design exploits a symbiotic dependency as that same air conditioner will supply a constant flow of condensate water into the garden’s drip irrigation system.
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Fatmanur Yilmaz, the IETT environmental engineer in charge of the project, told ANSAmed that the Botobus garden is planted with species that can thrive in both summer and winter, contributing to offsets in bus emissions. The name is a play on botony and autobus which is Otobus in Turkish.
The travelling garden is being trampled in social media, especially on Twitter, with critics pointing out the irony of putting tiny (inaccessible) planted spaces atop buses while popular green areas in Istanbul are being destroyed.
They mostly refer to the Turkish government’s urban renewal plan for Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park, which incited a massive wave of violent national protests in 2013-14.
In the run-up to Halloween, is this travelling topiary an environmental trick or treat? IETT has said there are no plans to add other Botobuses to their fleet.
[…] bus sehingga penggunaan AC bisa diminalisir. Bagaimana menurut anda? Sumber: Blog Serius Green Prophet TagsLingkungan, Transportasi, […]
[…] By adminPosted on October 8, 2014 Dalam rangka penyelamatan lingkungan produsen otomotif berlomba-lomba menerapkan konsep “Eco Driving” ke dalam teknologi kendaraannya, nah kalau yang ini lebih unik karena bus satu ini menerapkan “green technology”, maksud kami disini benar-benar “Green”. Botobus adalah inisiatif dari Istanbul Transportation Authority (IETT) Turki, bus-bus umum dimodifikasi atapnya agar bisa ditanami rumput atau tumbuhan lain yang disesuaikan dengan iklim Turki. Terus kenapa harus ditanami rumput? ternyata rumput disini berguna untuk melindungi terpaan sinar matahari langsung ke atap bus sekaligus mendinginkan kondisi di dalam bus sehingga penggunaan AC bisa diminalisir. Bagaimana menurut anda? Sumber: Blog Serius Green Prophet […]
The Turks are so awesome at getting around by public transport. I spent two months in Turkey basically travelling by deluxe bus. Loved it. Although the sense of adventure wasn’t really there because the public buses were always keeping track of where you were and where you should be picked up. A super organized system even well before cell phones were on the scene.