San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently unveiled the first of 1,100 solar powered bus shelters that will be installed throughout the city between now and 2013. Crowned with a rolling red crest of photovoltaic panels, the shelters will use the sun’s rays to power their intercom, LED lighting, and even wireless routers that will help blanket the city with WiFi goodness. Designed by Lundberg Design and contracted through Clear Channel, the new shelters signal a bright future for solar technology in the Bay Area.
Situated at Geary and Arguello boulevards in the Richmond District, the new bus shelter features an undulating solar roof that calls to mind both the hills of San Francisco and a seismic wave (this is earthquake territory after all!) The roof is constructed from an innovative 40% post-industrial recycled polycarbonate material embedded with thin-film photovoltaic cells, and the steel structure is composed of 75% recycled material. The shelter also features a pushbutton update system, more room for transit information, and is expected feed back energy into the city’s electrical grid.
Ironically, the site of the first shelter happens to be one of the foggiest parts of town, but it sets a great standard for things to come. The current ruby red color scheme will see a shift to amber as more shelters are installed along Market Street and throughout San Francisco. Mayor Newsom has stated: “Transit shelters that use photovoltaics, LEDS, and WiFi are going to be standard in the future and I’m proud that San Francisco is once again acting like the pace car for other cities by trying and implementing these technologies.”
Additional info at SF Streets Blog
Tip by Dina
Photos by Mike Chino and Ryan Hughes
3 Responses to “Solar Powered Bus Shelter Unveiled in San Francisco”
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This is great. Combine it with this air-conditioned busstop and it’s perfect:
http://www.stichtingmilieunet.nl/andersbekekenblog/?p=3156
If you also add a television and some A/C that would be worth waiting at the bus stop for…..
its great that they are green but they are so ugly and huge, one’s going up right in front of my building and its only going to leave 4 feet of walkable space. its almost a foot deeper than the current ones. I love the other stuff Lundberg has done but this is a design fail in my op.