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In the 1.8 million metropolis of Hamburg there are more than 4200 bus stops with over 2300 so-called passenger shelters - and the trend is rising.

For a pilot project, the roofs at selected bus stops of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) are to be greened.

This provides for a joint application by the SPD and the Greens, as the government factions announced on Sunday in the Hanseatic city.

In the future, more living space should be created for insects, birds and plants and the cityscape should be upgraded.

"In order to increase the comfort for passengers on buses and trains, we are installing significantly more passenger shelters in the city with the Hamburg cycle," said the Green Spokesman for transport policy, Gerrit Fuß, explaining the move.

Greening the roofs of the bus stops creates green islands even in heavily sealed areas.

“These improve the local microclimate, provide a habitat for plants, insects and even birds, and increase biodiversity,” explained Fuß.

The small "green islands" also bind rainwater.

"We need more of these solutions"

In addition, according to Rot-Grün, the planting of passenger shelters could contribute to a visually attractive cityscape.

Therefore, the pilot project should start this year.

"Whether in Hamburg or elsewhere - we need more of these solutions in which mobility, urban space and nature are brought together and benefit from each other," said Green politician Fuß.

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The transport policy SPD spokesman Ole Thorben Buschhüter emphasized: "With the pilot project for greened passenger shelters, we are taking the first step towards realizing additional islands of nature in the middle of urban areas." Greened roofs of passenger shelters could be an important living space, especially in places with a high density of sealing and thus strengthen nature and fauna.

There are already 300 green bus stops in Utrecht

If the pilot project is successful, Rot-Grün would like to "achieve a positive, comprehensive effect for the urban climate by setting up additional green shelters" in the course of the later re-tendering of the advertising rights on public land.

According to Buschhüter, a look at Utrecht in the Netherlands, where 300 stops are already green, shows how much potential the pilot project has.

"City and nature are not mutually exclusive, they belong together."

Passenger shelters are an essential part of local public transport in Hamburg.

According to the information, hundreds of thousands of passengers use the shelters every day "to protect themselves from wind and weather while waiting for the bus, to inform themselves on the posted timetables and maps of the area and to rest on the benches", as stated in the joint application by SPD and green means.

And further: "They thus contribute to the convenience of an attractive public transport and have long since become an indispensable part of our street furniture."

Hamburg is the first major German city with a green roof strategy

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With the Hamburg clock, the red-green Senate wants to massively expand bus and train offers.

In this context, 600 bus stops are to be added by the end of the decade.

This requires a corresponding increase in the number of passenger shelters.

For the pilot project, Wall GmbH, which is commissioned with the operation of the passenger shelters, is initially to test possibilities for green roofs.

The planting of passenger shelters would not least complement the green roof strategy that Hamburg was the first major German city to adopt under a single SPD government in 2014.

Their goal is now to “green at least 70 percent of both the new buildings and the flat or gently sloping roofs that need to be renovated”.

The authority of Environment Senator Jens Kerstan (Greens) will support the project with three million euros until 2024.

With the help of green roofs, Hamburg is adapting to the consequences of climate change.