China - Ginormous Bus Straddles Road, Drives Above Cars

[RamboLiberal]

China is all about the future of transportation. High-speed trains criss cross the countryside, sending people whizzing from Shanghai to Beijing at speeds over 200 miles per hour. And General Motors has even developed a tiny urban car that's designed just for Chinese urban drivers.

But now a company has designed something called a "straddling bus." Basically, it's a huge bus that operates like a train on wheels, and is so tall that cars can drive right under it. Each bus is about two street lanes wide and 18 feet tall, according to Song Youzhou, the chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Company, which is building these enormous buses.

With Chinese traffic growing rapidly, designers intend to have as many commuters on the road as is efficiently possible. This straddling bus won't get in the way of any buses or cars currently on the roads, and will only add capacity to the public transportation infrastructure.

In a rough translation of Youzhou's presentation I found, he says, "The highlight innovation of the straddling bus is that it runs above cars and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road space, efficient and high in capacity."

http://news.discovery.com/tech/ginormous-bus-straddles-road-drives-above-cars.html

[LostInAnomie]

1. What happens when cars need to turn in front of it?

Surely, it takes awhile for that thing to slow down.

[Better Believe It]

2. It's starting to look like the 21st Century will be China's

[MellowDem]

4. Not with this idea nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. Here, we once designed trains

to have ramps on either end, so another train coming from the opposite direction could cross over, chug along on top of the other train, and return to its trip all on the same track.

They never worked.

[MellowDem]

9. And even that idea has more merit...

This would result in tons of accidents. A track would be needed, but then it wouldn't be a bus. Double layered highways do exist, but they're incredibly expensive.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. agreed.

I recall a time when the Japanese would "leak" an idea, promote it heavily, then laugh when US and Euro competitors tried to make it happen. When all it was was misdirection by the Japanese ministers. Of course, Japan then hit their own real estate bubble, and that pretty much screwed their economy for the next two decades.

[Blue Owl]

3. But who's being thrown under the bus here?

:silly:

[valerief]

5. Way cool!!!!! nt

[Better Believe It]

6. Here's a youtube video link on this proposal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQxP_un15iQ&feature=player_embedded

[Abq_Sarah]

8. An interesting concept

But it would be a nightmare in real life. Imagine a vehicle pile up under the bus? What happens when a car spins out?

[Terry in Austin]

10. "The future of transportation"

Mm, riiight.

One thing for sure, it's not going to feature fuel engines or asphalt roads.