Sustainable bus shelters in the UK. Displays powered with wind turbines and solar panels

Sustainability and low environmental impact are not matters of vehicles and fuels. In the UK Worcestershire County Council is installing new bus shelters in Bromsgrove. Powered using a combination of wind turbines and solar panels, these will be the first shelters in the UK to be 100% ‘off grid’ and it is estimated that each shelter will save 3.6 metric tonnes of Carbon over 10 years.

First bus shelters with renewables-powered displays

The shelters are developed in partnership with the Council’s technology partners, 21st Century Passenger Systems and Etesian Green. The first, a division of Journeo plc, is a specialist provider of tailored passenger information solutions, including hardware and software for electronic passenger information systems. The second is a technology provider of renewable on and off grid energy generation systems.

each shelter will have real time passenger journey information displays and in-built lighting. They will also feature the first interactive transport information display to be powered by renewable energy.

This project directly supports several other transport and environmental initiatives from the Council. As well as helping to meet the Net Zero Carbon Plan, the shelters and interactive displays will connect the recently launched ‘Bromsgrove on Demand’, or BOD, transport service to the train station.

Councillor Alan Amos, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways and Transport, said: “It’s fantastic that we are going to be installing these state-of-the-art bus shelters in Bromsgrove. We were the first council to seriously investigate the potential for using renewable energy across our transport infrastructure and the first to install a solar-powered, real time passenger information display back in 2016. These new shelters will be great for passengers travelling on our buses as they will have real time information about services available right in front of them.”