Are Straddling Buses the Future of Beijing Transport?
When we first heard about it, we were really skeptical. An elevated bus that straddles traffic? It can’t work, no way.
Well, despite our wholehearted skepticism of what we viewed as an ill-conceived solution to Beijing’s traffic woes, the Transit Elevated Bus is now one step closer to becoming a reality.
The TEB-1, a single-car model of the bus, was actually taken for a spin yesterday. We know, we're shocked too. The test run of the bus was held in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, CityLab reports.
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The full version of the bus is designed to carry up to 1,400 passengers and functions to help ease traffic in cities like Beijing. It is estimated that it will also cut annual fuel consumption by 800 tons and carbon emissions by 2,500.
The TEB-1, which was tested yesterday, is a single-car version of the bus. It measures 16 feet tall, 72 feet long and roughly 26 feet wide and holds a maximum of 300 passengers. Other vehicles can pass underneath the bus though a seven-foot gap.
The idea of an elevated bus has been thrown around in China for years. It was actually first proposed in 2010 by Chinese engineer Song Youzhou. But it didn’t seem to ever be taken seriously until this year, when a small-scale version of the super futuristic-looking bus was unveiled during the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo back in May.
In addition to showcasing the model, there was also a video demonstration showing the monstrous bus seemingly glide over traffic. At the expo, creators of the Transit Elevated Bus also announced plans to test a real model of the bus in August. At the time, we just laughed the idea off as ludicrous.
We might have been wrong. But we’re still just as skeptical as ever about the reality of the Transit Elevated Bus actually becoming a thing in Beijing.
We still have so many questions. What happens when cars change lanes? What happens when vehicles are carrying a load more than seven feet high? What happens when drivers panic when they see an enormous bus speeding toward them?
We still think this is going to be a disaster.
[Photos via Xinhua]
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