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« Never Say No to Panda! | Main | A time to strategerize » Chinese Straddle BusChina's new idea for dealing with their traffic issues. Proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, the model looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles' way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%. According to the translation, it would take 1/3 of the time to build the infrastructure for the straddling bus than it would to build the same amount of subway. There are 2 proposed ideas for keeping the bus on track:
The scary part is if you're driving underneath the bus in the tunnel and the bus is about to turn. There are signal lights inside to warn you, but still. I think it's a very interesting idea, but I'd have to see more to dispel the visions of cars getting smashed into the sides of the bus. By min | September 21, 2010, 7:32 PM | Science |