China tests first-ever elevated transit bus
Chinese officials pronounced a test run on Tuesday of the Transit Elevated Bus in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province a success.
The inaugural run was conducted on a 300 metre-long track, separate
from road traffic. Each 72-foot-long vehicle can carry up to 300
passengers, and up to four TEB cars can be linked together, although
only one was used for the first public outing.
The bus is designed to help combat gridlock by letting passengers
soar over the tops of cars on the increasingly-congested roads of
China’s major cities.
“The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space,” chief engineer Song Youzhou said in an interview with news agency Xinhua earlier this year.
The passenger compartment of this bus rises far above other vehicles on the road, allowing cars to pass underneath.
Song said as well as being cheaper to produce than underground
trains, the straddling bus could be rolled out more quickly thanks to
the simplicity of its supporting infrastructure.
Vehicles can pass under the bus whether it is moving or stationary and it is powered by electricity.
Each bus would replace about 40 conventional buses, Song said.
On May 21, a model of what is also known as the land airbus debuted at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo.
Courtesy: Yahoo! | National Post
