Ginormous Bus Straddles Road, Drives Above Cars

[sustain...@gmail.com]

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."

Youzhou threw out some figures about the impact the straddling bus
will have on Chinese traffic. He says they can reduce up to 25 to 30
percent of traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average of 25
miles per hour, it can take 1,200 people at a time, or 300 passengers
per cart.

In terms of help to the environment, he says each bus can save up to
860 tons of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 tons of carbon emissions. It
is powered partly by solar panels on each bus, but it's powered mostly
by electricity.

Either way, it's a lot better than getting around on fossil fuels.

China Straddling Bus Demonstration (You Tube - 6 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQxP_un15iQ

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

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