Increasing greenery in and around public transit stations makes urban areas more attractive and helps reduce the urban heat island effect. This is when the built environment absorbs heat causing temperatures to rise.
Benefits of Urban greenery:
- Reduces the risk of tracks buckling in high temperatures
- Enhances visual appeal
- Lowers noise pollution
- Decreases air pollution
- Mitigates the urban heat island effect
- Increases biodiversity by providing food sources and habitats for bees and insects.
In cities, concrete and a lack of vegetation can raise temperatures compared to surrounding rural areas. It is higher in hot cities with sizeable urban heat islands, such as Phoenix, Arizona. The City of Phoenix states it can be up to 21 degrees hotter in the city than in rural areas during summer.
Green tracks are common in Europe, where grass or wildflowers grow between and alongside light rail and tram lines. Germany has approximately 300 miles of green tracks, with more planned.
In hotter, drier climates, a different approach is needed. For example, our partners DART in Dallas have successfully planted banks of shade-giving trees.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a toolkit to assist communities in addressing heat islands. The U.S. government has also allocated $1.13 billion to fund over 300 projects to plant trees in cities.
