Taipei’s New ‘Forest Bus’ Is the Best Bus in the World
Charged with increasing the city’s greenspace, a florist filled a public bus with plants.
Public transportation: It can be just fine. If all goes well, you get on the bus or train, it goes for a while, and you get off again. Feel-good maxims be damned, it’s generally about the destination, not the journey.
But what about … public plantsportation!?
Since last Wednesday, lucky commuters in Taipei, Taiwan, have had the opportunity to get around via the “forest bus”—an ordinary city bus that has been temporarily transformed into a verdant jungle.
“[Riders] can smell the scent of summer on the bus and … feel messages from nature,” the bus’s designer, floral designer and artist Alfie Lin, told Agence France-Presse. All of the plants he chose are native to Taiwan and currently in season.
Although generally known for his minimalism and elegance, Lin went all-out for the bus, tucking wildflower sprigs into the window ledges, hanging epiphytes from handrails, and even covering the floor and seats with grass. In a video from AFP, plant and human passengers alike sway gently as the bus bumps down the road.
The forest bus is in commission through Sunday. It ferries its ecosystem along Route 203, which goes between several markets, a temple, an art museum, and a baseball stadium, Taiwan News reports.
The bus is now also an attraction in itself. “There’s no rushing on and off like a regular bus,” commuter Larry Huang, who works at the museum, told AFP. “I feel like I’m at a party with friends.” A beautiful, fragrant party that gets you where you want to go.
Every day, we track down a fleeting wonder—something amazing that’s only happening right now. Have a tip for us? Tell us about it! Send your temporary miracles to cara@atlasobscura.com.
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