Image capture of video by CCTC News via YouTube channel - A new concept to counter traffic jams called Transit Explore Bus (TEB) were showcased this month at a technology expo in Beijing, China
- The “straddling bus” is supported by two legs that run along rails laid along the roadside
- The legs allow the TEB’s giant frame to glide high above the traffic jams at speeds of up to 60km per hour
BEIJING, China – A company in China revealed an amazing futuristic design of elevated bus which glides over traffic jams; thus hoping to decrease the volume of vehicles on China’s urban roads.
Tom Philips mentioned in his article for The Guardian published on May 26 that the new concept, called Transit Explore Bus (TEB), were showcased this month on a technology expo in Beijing, China.
The “straddling bus” is supported by two legs that run along rails laid along the roadside. The legs allow the TEB’s giant frame to glide high above the traffic jams at speeds of up to 60km per hour.
Vehicles which are less than two meters high will be able to drive freely underneath the straddling bus, even when it is not in motion.
“The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space,” said Song Youzhou; the project’s chief engineer as quoted by an article for Xinhua.
Youzhou claimed that the “straddling bus” could be produced for just 20% of the price of an underground and will be capable of transporting up to 1,400 commuters.
The chief engineer added that the “straddling bus” can be built quickly as compared to underground train as the supporting infrastructure needed is relatively simple. Youzhou said that one TEB could replace 40 conventional buses.
China reportedly plans to deploy a prototype on the streets of Qinhuangdao, a coastal city about 300km east of Beijing in the coming months.
An article by Neil Connor by The Telegraph said the project has been greeted with great anticipation in China, where traffic jams have grown as a huge everyday problem.
However, the excitement over the innovation was lessened as the public remembered that a virtually identical contraption was unveiled at the same expo in 2010 but without any progress after 6 years.
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