So, this inane bus shelter, also known as a "living roof," is all a part of Newsom plan to get elected Governor of California. (Let's hear it for the amusement parkification of SF until he leave office! Wee!) The new shelters, you see, mimic the 2.5 acre "living roof" gracing the top of the new California Academy of Sciences building. Droll, yes?

According to Team Newsom:

The California Academy of Sciences, working with the SFMTA, the Department of Public Works, Clear Channel Outdoor [OMG, Oh noes!!! -- SFist] and the advertising agency, Heat, renovated the bus shelter on Larkin St. and McAllister (Civic Center) with a "living roof." This "living roof" is modeled after the 2.5 acre "living roof" on the California Academy of Sciences, and it is landscaped with a combination of beach strawberries and prunella, which are also planted on the roof of the Academy.

OK, it's actually kind of cool to look at. Would we prefer buses that arrive in a timely fashion over a sod sporting bus stop? Yes. But we like it. Because it's purdy.

Anyway, Mayor Newsom cut the ribbon at the "living roof" bus shelter at the Civic Center today. We give it a month before all the grass gets ripped off, or crack vapors kill this living ad for a museum.

At right: What the new Muni shelters should look like.