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The 300 km/h Superbus
pigrabbitbear writes "Have you heard of the Superbus? You could have already, as it has been in prototype production for years, and has recently been gaining more attention at auto shows and through public demonstrations. Like a stretch Batmobile that seems yet another triumph for Saudi and Emirate auto enthusiasts, passengers and their entourages enter the car under a row of gull-wings. The bus runs on batteries, and it can fly along at nearly 300 km/h (or 192 mph), and quite 'silently.'"
First of all, the "thing" at the web site referenced is not a bus, itâ(TM)s a stretch limo. For example, the article goes on to say "The bus, which is better described as a sex-oozing cigarette-car..." Itâ(TM)s not a bus.
Secondly, yes, I like the idea of a 200 MPH bus. As long as it is mechanically fixed in some way to a dedicated road â" maybe with something like a continuous piece of metal to guide it and prevent it from careening into space...
Lastly, what's with the link to some advert-laden page-view magnet, instead of a direct link to the website of the project in question? Does Slashdot employ editors anymore? Did they ever?
Here it is: http://www.superbusproject.com/
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I'll pass, I saw the film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus
was funny in pats I guess.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
That the bathroom is broken, and the next stop is in 1500 miles.
The bus runs on batteries, and it can fly along at nearly 300 km/h (or 192 mph), and quite 'silently.'
Great, as if it wasn't easy enough to get hit by a bus before, they went and invented one that can do 192 MPH while making no noise...
If I'm not mistaken, there was a SuperBus in there as well that did 300km/h
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
Significant digits, motherfucker! Do you know them?
May we live long and die out
Just don't let Lucky Star Bus Line get a hold of it. They have a hard enough time not flipping their 70mph buses.
For those times when you want to go somewhere, but you don't want to take anything with you or bring anything back.
In other words, fine for going from your hotel to your business meeting, but that's about it. Like a limo without the privacy and quiet. I can't imagine a use for this that would justify dedicated 200km/h lanes.
http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-replaces-costly-highspeed-rail-plan-with-hig,18473/
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Richard wears a hat!
And I build the fastest bus...........in the world.
can provide speeds up to 300 cocks an hour
Ok, so it's not really designed for mass public transportation, but it looks like it shows some concepts which could be easily applied to mass-transit, long-distance buses.
Does anyone else think that self-driving, high-speed buses like that would eliminate the need for high-speed rail? With billions about to be spent on technology from the 1800's, it seems like there are other options which are much better suited to fulfilling America's transportation needs.
http://www.masturbateforpeace.com/
With all of these 21st century ultra-highspeed rail systems, would an approach like this with dedicated tracks or roads work better?
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
It still smells like pee and has uncomfortable seats.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
OK, somebody built a stretch-limo electric supercar. Those are fun, but not too useful. A stretch-limo version of a Ferrari has been built.
The dual rear axles steer, so the turning circle is reasonable. (Many tour buses have that feature.) The limited ground clearance is going to be a problem on a long vehicle. It would have trouble with many driveways and all speed bumps. They should have put in a suspension that allows lifting the vehicle when necessary.
The demo vehicle has lead-acid batteries and limited range. The designer talks about going to a more advanced battery technology. They also talk about battery swapping, but they'd need a network of battery-swap stations sized for this thing.
I probably know a little bit more about this thing than most and most of it is not good. Usually when trying something new, you'd expect people to try and prove the concept before doing anything really expensive. Here it was the other way around. Most of the effort was put into making a flashy prototype with all the bells and whistles in place. Really, worrying about where to mount the LCD displays? The result is a machine that incredibly expensive with no chance of commercialisation because litterally every part it contains is different. The things that were important, like aerodynamics and structural reliability have enough left over issues for anybody involved in the design to not want to be in it when it drives full speed. It it ever will. I suppose this is what you get when you hand over pretty much unlimited funding to people that have little interest in the actual science.
Something to bear in mind is that, while this wouldn't really solve any problem in a city (and might create more than a few), it would probably do a decent job moving a number of very rich passengers across a wide open road if it didn't have much traffic. As I recall, quite a few of these highways exist in the Arabian Desert, so anyone who decided not to fly for some reason might see this as a decent alternative. Still pretty much a toy, though.
The speed of mass transit solutions is often irrelevant unless you're talking about ~300 mile trips where High Speed Rail becomes competitive with air travel. A much bigger factor is frequency. If you have to wait 15 minutes at a stop rather than 30 minutes then that shaves a considerable amount of time off your journey without resorting to unsafe velocities. When you see a tram with an aerodynamic front puttering along the street at 20MPH then you know that the aero front was all for show and had more to do with securing funding than actually improving performance. I suspect that the advertised top speed of this 'bus' has more to do with getting publicity and investor attention than anything that's likely to see service. Even on a German autobahn I wouldn't want to be sitting on a bus that goes faster than 70MPH.
That said, journey time alone is not the only factor in mass transit. Comfort and convenience are a big deal. I know I'd rather have a nap or read a book or get some work done than have to focus on driving.
Some of the routing ideas mentioned in the project's website are worth a closer look. Some interesting concepts in there.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
Does anyone else fear that this will be an excuse to make another "Speed" movie?
I like electric vehicles a lot. I think they have a lot of potential. But this is just dumb.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-replaces-costly-highspeed-rail-plan-with-hig,18473/
Now someone can go drifting in the "superbus" and throw even more people out the windows when they hit the side of the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aW6d46VbpM
Have gnu, will travel.
heh, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074205/
Contentment is the greatest wealth
- Sukhavagga Dhammapada
Contentment is the goal behind all goals.
If it's not atomic powered and can change tires automatically, I'm not riding in that deathtrap!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The world's fastest limo! At that kind of speed, it might be the fastest way from LA to Las Vegas, if you count all the airport security, baggage, etc.
This is the school bus that Bruce Wayne used to ride.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
I found the limitations a bit much:
200km range... or about 124 miles. Doesn't even get you from San Francisco to LA. Even if it only takes you 30minutes to get there, you're only saving about an hour. And this would required dedicated infrastructure/roads. Not exactly easy given that our highways are already crowded.
Does it come with a spare? I realize that Greyhound buses have the same problem, but those buses a) carry many more people per trip and b) the company has a much better infrastructure for dealing with broken down buses. Plus the buses have no problems going over curbs, parking lot entrances etc..
Where do you store luggage? Do you hold your bags on your lap?
Looks like a stretch Ferrari. Interesting yes, practical no.
Never get on bus that requires 5 point seatbelt.
Would someone please explain this using a car analogy?
They're like a French No Doubt, right?
sic transit gloria mundi
Been in planning for awhile in the US: http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-replaces-costly-highspeed-rail-plan-with-hig,18473/
(and yes, I know it's a spoof)
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
at what speed do buses start getting seatbelts?
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
It's a university built high speed bus. Many people will expect it to have major flaws (it's electric for cripes sake!). What matters is how much road damage the said vehicle causes at high speeds, how much the road costs to build, and unexpected problems that come up during real world operations. High speed passenger rail evolved almost by accident. Given the rising influence of aerodynamic drag at higher speeds, the advantage of rail over road diminishes. I hope high speed bus becomes a lower population alternative to high speed rail.
what's with the link to some advert-laden page-view magnet
The internet has ads?
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
Reminds me of Cyclops in "The Big Bus"
ceci n'est pas un sig
No credits to Wubbo Ockels, the Dutch astronaut who has been pushing this project for years?
Just some marketing talk about Saudi's...
The Dutch will inherit the earth. If not, we'll settle for a bit of ocean. Beta delenda est!
The limited ground clearance is going to be a problem on a long vehicle. It would have trouble with many driveways and all speed bumps. They should have put in a suspension that allows lifting the vehicle when necessary.
Given the expected top range (~200km) and the planned top speed (up to 300km/h) I think that this system, if it sees deployment, would be better suited for inter-city travel, rather than intra-city.
Thus it needs less emphasis on being able to drive inside a city and its various problems (speed bumps, etc.), and more emphasis in being able to travel on the high-way between cities.
The demo vehicle has lead-acid batteries and limited range. The designer talks about going to a more advanced battery technology. They also talk about battery swapping, but they'd need a network of battery-swap stations sized for this thing.
Well, you're also going to need a network of bus stations anyway (one in each city along the route, prefeabily located not too far from the highway, and easily accessible with the city public transportation system or easy to park next to it). So the stop at one city's station would be the perfect opportunity to swap batteries, while poeple embark/disembark the bus.
All in all, it looks like a nice solution for regions (like the USA and unlike most of europe) lacking a well developped and connected rail network.
Best of all, it could already start driving on current highway although at a safer top speed, and slowly start adding additionnal dedicated high-speed lanes progressively on the highways.
(A little bit like the high speed rail network was developped in some european countries: First have the long distance trains run slower on the same tracks, then progressively build additionnal rail track better suited for the high speed trains).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075909/ Imagination.
Saudi Royal Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan can use it to torture and kill another Afghan grain merchant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan
Wow someone made a really Big Bus!!!
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
Rail needs either distance or population density to be economically viable. Given that 50% of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast, yeah, it works in densely populated areas, but for example the rail in the middle of nowhere they plan here in California isn't going to see a lot of ridership.
Even if it's economically viable, it does give a nice single choke-point where people without individual transport can have their mobility drastically reduced if someone in power thinks it's in their best interests to shut peoples travel down. We've several dry runs for this already, for example on the airport closures after 9/11, or the closure of the only two roads in and out of New Orleans to only emergency traffic, effectively forcing 60,000 people to stay put in flood conditions, or the BART shutdown of cell service in an attempt to squelch civil disobedience.
In Ireland (all cities, not just Dublin), there are many miles of bus lanes. Bus lanes can be used by buses (public or private), taxis, bicyclists, and, of course, emergency vehicles. Some are 24h, others are only 3-7pm or somesuch.
End result: buses are way faster than driving a private car, taxis are fast (benefiting those who occasionally need one because they otherwise use the bus), bicyclists get a nice wide bike lane, and emergency services can get places a bit faster because they don't have to wait for motorists to squeeze out of the way.
runs 300+ (on decent tracks), runs on electricity, much passangers
You'd need a dedicated road for this. Might as well build a train.
Sounds like a product that will just fly off the shelves!
"You eat one lousy foot and they call you a cannibal. What a world!"
I thought it'd be more like the Big Bus
http://imcdb.org/vehicle_65460-Made-for-Movie.html
That one had a nuclear reactor.
As long as Stockard Channing is aboard, I'll be there.
RAISE THE FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS!
I'm surprised how many people like to call this a Limo, or a Train. Thats a huge difference.
- Trains move on (either steel or maglev) rails. They have awfull grip, need an elaborate (and single-purpose) infrastructure.
- Limo's are not electical driven, not designed for continues forensic usage, and not for transport on this scale.
This bus, is a bus. it being flat doesn't make it a limo, and that its fast or long does not make it a train.
I see .. the future of transport as a multipurpose high-bandwidth infrastructure much like we today have asphalt highways that will fit any car, truck or bus.
This bus, altough its clearly designed for current highways (if they're straight enough) is a part of what i see as the future. It just needs "virtual" rails in the form of automated lane transits and stops, and in another 30 years docking (free of charge) to boat-sized busses that make money by your purchases in their mall (not furniture, but small/portable stuff). Single-purpose infrastructure is simply to expensive, i see this as a trend since the technical revolution. Its the reason roads fit any vehicle, and the internet can traffic more than just http, the powergrid can deliver power from any plant it wants to, and supermarkets have one uniform trolly for moving all those different-packed-sized items, and the popular PC can be put in just about any role that fits the user.
I could go on about your typical limo either is a armored tank with 6 chairs and a driver, or a one-off butched car with additional 4 chairs, tv, fridge and a black/white/pink paintjob to look as if its of decent quality beneath the leather seats.
In my computer, I've got buses that go at about 2/3 of the speed of light.
(About 200 000 km/s, which is more than 700 000 000 km/h)
The Netherlands are too small a country for the superbus. Driving at 300 km/h means you save half an hour if you travel all the way from north to south compared to an intercity train.
How fast does it have to go to break wind?
Stick Men
with broken heroes on a last chance power drive, just how fast will this thing be going?
Am I the only one that wants to see the Stig take that thing through the hammerhead?