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China Unveils 'Straddling Bus' Design To Beat Traffic Jams (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A Beijing company has unveiled spectacularly futuristic designs for a pollution-busting, elevated bus capable of gliding over the nightmarish mega-jams for which urban China has become notorious. The "straddling bus," which owes more to Blade Runner than China's car-clogged highways, is supported by two legs that run along rails laid along the roadside. Those legs allow the Transit Explore Bus, or TEB's giant frame to glide high above the gridlock at speeds of up to 60km per hour. Equally, vehicles that are less than two metres high will be able to drive freely underneath the bus, even when it is stationary. "The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space," Song Youzhou, the project's chief engineer, told Xinhua, China's official news agency. Song claimed his buses, capable of transporting up to 1,400 commuters, could be produced for 20% of the price of an underground train and rolled out far more quickly since the supporting infrastructure was relatively simple. One TEB could replace 40 conventional buses, he said.You can watch the concept video here. Interestingly a very similar -- if not the exact same -- concept has come out of China before. Not sure what kind of developments have been made in the six years since then.
Maybe these can start operating in some of their ghost cities.
Old news. Just new hype.
http://www.chinahush.com/2010/...
Not a real thing, not practical in almost any area that needs high capacity transit, and just a distraction from real things we already know how to build but refuse to pay for.
This does seem like the kind of thing that a population would have to be high to come up with.
Better not have anything on top of the SUV. Probably need guardrails too, to prevent people from driving into the sides of the bus.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
That damn bus is over me again!
Cars can easily crash into this thing. Then what?
So, you're driving along, and all of a sudden, a wall appears around you, then vanishes, then appears again.
Hope you brought your sun glasses, and removed them, and put them on again, with your psychic powers.
Also hope you didn't plan on changing lanes, and weren't in the middle of doing so.
It's not the same as 40 busses. 40 busses come 40 times as often. Now you get to wait for the big-ass bus 40 times as long. Perfect.
How about just admitting that you can't fit more stuff into less space, and still have it usable. Archive-storage doesn't work for civilized humans -- intiguingly, it works far better for rural/country humans.
Uh wat? China has tremendous available territory and resources relative to their population, they've just chosen to concentrate their population in cities.
I seem to recall an article from an old magazine, perhaps Popular Mechanics or Popular Science, that presented the idea of a bus that straddles over the imagined traffic jams of the future.
Yeah, and then there were the ideas of a circular airport in the middle of the city and air planes would build up speed on the banked track.
Bumper sticker on the bus says "Your horn will not make me produce stilts to lift myself out of your way."
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Looked like a good idea until I remembered that bridges exist. It would have to be at least 10 feet higher than the largest trucks, so it likely couldn't be used on any roads that have anything above them. Where I live, this is virtually all roads. However, in areas without a lot of bridges I could see this being a pretty good idea. For roads that ban trucks and also have no bridges, it would work best, but I'm not sure how common that is. Also, how the heck is it going to turn? I could see this working on some of the perfectly straight avenues in Manhattan, but you'd have to move the traffic lights. At least it's fun to think about!
It's stuck to and rides upon rails. It's not a bus, it's a train or tram.
Drivers always stay precisely centered in their lanes when an overhead tunnel slides up on them from behind. Yeah, right.
Monorail. Problem solved.
Have gnu, will travel.
In before the racist comments about how Chinese people, having a high population in proportion to their available territory and resources, deserve to be crammed like sardines into this thing.
You are aware of the fact that you are the one making the racist comment, even if it is a "meta-comment"?
Also, wtf are you talking about ? I've never heard someone say something like that.
YOUR comment is the most racist thing I've heard about the Chinese. And I've lived in Asia.
They'll 3D print them, to help their moon colonists get to the private launch facilities, right?
Have nobody noticed yet how the 'Straddling Bus' BENDS around it's path when moving through any curved road? What is it made of? Wishful thinking bend around curves rubber? Did they forget to look at how trains, semis, etc behave when they turn? Hint: the big blocky part remains straight and does not bend....surly all that bending makes it very easy for the cars under it, but in reality it does not behave like that, and it will squash the cars and push them left and right under itself when going through curves.
Old news. Just new hype. http://www.chinahush.com/2010/...
Not a real thing, not practical in almost any area that needs high capacity transit, and just a distraction from real things we already know how to build but refuse to pay for.
Parent is absolutely NOT off-topic, in fact it is insightful.
And bad hype. Look at the renders, they did not even bother rendering a simulation, the whole thing bends around the corner instead of the segments.
It will never exist, they do not have the tech to build it and they miss an important part... like how does traffic EXIT and ENTER the roadway?
What makes more sense is simply build a traditional elevated train or monorail. Instead they want to build this unservicable monstrosity.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
And I have just the song for you...wait, no, it's more of a Shelbyville song.
No, you insist, you're twice as harmonious as Shelbyville? Alright.
Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine, bona fide
Electrified, six-car monorail
What'd I say?
Monorail
What's it called?
Monorail
That's right! Monorail
Monorail
Monorail
Monorail
I hear those things are awfully loud
It glides as softly as a cloud
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life, my Hindu friend
What about us brain-dead slobs?
You'll be given cushy jobs
Were you sent here by the Devil?
No, good sir, I'm on the level
The ring came off my pudding can
Take my pen knife, my good man
I swear it's Springfield's only choice
Throw up your hands and raise your voice
Monorail
What's it called?
Monorail
Once again
Monorail
But Main Street's still all cracked and broken
Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken
Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
I wouldn't say not practical. Just not as practical as building an elevated train, which is much cheaper than a subway. The problem with elevated trains is the nimbys hate them. Fuck the nimbys.
Indeed. Headline is "unveils", and yet. Oh well, moderators gonna moderate.
Sheesh. I thought you were going to talk about how they are bad drivers and you can blind fold them with dental floss.
On a more serious note. How would this deal with accidents damaging or blocking the rails and debris. Almost every big city i have been to has this on a daily basis if not more often.
So much for that solar powered hybrid electric car you just purchased to save the environment and cut fuel costs.
Sounds like the wild eyed futurism of "Closer than we think by Arthur Radebaugh
Of course, in the future world of 2016, we have robot rocket-ships that return to base and land automatically, so who are we to sneer?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I can see this system work when the cars it is travelling over are standardized. A two-layer / two storey road system could work very well at reducing traffic jams... but traffic is not a standard size.
Also: what happens if this thing is over you while you want to make a turn? You have to wait for it to move, slowing all traffic behind you to a standstill. I can't see a way of implementing this at a busy intersection that wouldn't just add another reason to be forced to wait to make a turn.
Instead of moving people, let's put the buildings on wheels so they can come to us.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Fuck the nimbys.
But not in their own back yard...
Why is everyone calling it a bus? This is clearly a train (or metro, light rail, super tram, etc.)
I guess it could be made to work if you were designing and building an entirely new city from scratch, but I doubt if this concept could be backed into an existing city, especially one with narrow, winding, streets.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
So would the rails go up and over junctions, or the road dip down under the rails, or would there be traffic lights at every junction to further impede traffic flow? If it was traffic lights, you sure wouldn't want to run a red light!
You'd have to have dividers to protect the rails to allow this thing to have uninterrupted trips. You'd have to have stations at each stop, to allow passengers on and off. It runs on rails, which you'd have to install.
This sounds very similar too... elevated light rail transit, which we KNOW how to build now.
Stupid idea. No redeeming benefits beyond LRT in any, and a few drawbacks as well (safety being a large one).
There is a bus in the next lane. How is that any different...
...yep. And that is one way to elide the fact that wider=more difficult to turn...I suspect that for this to work, the carriages would have to narrow at the ends so that the corners of the didn't hit as it went around curves...
It will never work. Anyone who's been to China realizes that lane markers are just "suggestions" and that snarled messes - with 7 cars abreast in a 4 lane road - is the norm, not the exception. Add in the fact you have intersections like XiZang Lu and Yan'an Dong Lu where it goes (from left to right): Straight, Left, Left, Straight, Right, Straight, Right, Straight, Left? What do you straddle?
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Would only work if all traffic was TOTALLY automated. Otherwise, get ready for a whole new spate of Chinese bus accident dashcam video complimations on YouTube.
There are lots of problems with this design. It doesn't deal with pedestrians, bicycles, and scooters that use the space between cars. It also doesn't handle trucks, or roof racks, that stick up above the height of a normal car. I cannot go under bridges or overpasses, or through intersections with suspended traffic lights. It doesn't even deal with people opening car doors to enter or exit. The design is just silly, and nobody should take it seriously.
Just not as practical as building an elevated train, which is much cheaper than a subway.
A dedicated lane for self-driving buses, vans, and taxis would be even cheaper.
I'm just a touch over two meters tall, add in shoes and I'm almost 2 cm's over. The bus needs more clearance.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
Anyone who's been to China realizes that lane markers are just "suggestions" and that snarled messes - with 7 cars abreast in a 4 lane road - is the norm, not the exception.
Not after the bus passes through them.
The animation reminds me of those Supermarionation TV shows. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
A dedicated lane for self-driving buses, vans, and taxis would be even cheaper.
Yeah, dedicated bus lanes could be rolled out in a matter of weeks, with nothing more than a few new road signs...
I don't even think they would need to be self-driving... And in China they ought to have the political power to do it.
Nobody is going to seriously complain in China...
If number of buses increased dramatically and all bus routes became bus-only lanes, they might even solve the smog and traffic issues they have.
As long as people live and work where the bus goes somewhat efficiently(as in it doesn't take my to the next town over and back to get to my destination, or I don't have to transfer 5 times). I have no idea how urban/suburban China is laid out, but it's definitely problematic in many other places.
Nope, those are stupid as fuck. We have one here in GR, and the bus is still slow as ever, and now traffic on Division is worse than before the damn Silver Line.
There are lots of problems with this design. It doesn't deal with pedestrians, bicycles, and scooters that use the space between cars. It also doesn't handle trucks, or roof racks, that stick up above the height of a normal car. I cannot go under bridges or overpasses, or through intersections with suspended traffic lights. It doesn't even deal with people opening car doors to enter or exit. The design is just silly, and nobody should take it seriously.
Solving those problems is simple. Build an even higher bus to go over this one! - and so on.
(||) Nehmo (||)
Public transportation is so pro-terrorism, anti-privacy, and pro-monopoly.
In northern California, they call the bus service the "Valley Transportation Authority."
What pompous bull$hit. You give a few people a little power....
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
My "> was deleted in the title.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
better these buses than more teslas clogging the roads.
Here's a nice hand drawn sketch of what the mock-up is supposed to look like.
It doesn't deal with pedestrians, bicycles, and scooters that use the space between cars....
Normal buses don't deal with those on roads that have limited space either. Normal buses end up with the same options on a busy street when someone cuts them off, opens a door into traffic, or parks illegally: hit the brakes. If there are enough lanes or traffic is slow enough, they can pull around some things. But I've been stuck on a bus when construction crews didn't leave enough space in a diverted lane for a bus and no alternative route was planned, or when a parked freight truck was blocking a tight turn, or when some idiot got their car stuck in a bustrap.
An underground or elevated train can avoid a lot of surface traffic issues, but the issues you list are not something like this can't "deal" with, as in these are not insurmountable problems. Plenty of places make at grade trains and trolleys work, with the issues you mentioning amounting to inconveniences and inefficiencies.
Build a jumping bus. It could be cat shaped.
It's cute that you think Chinese people would care about a sign that says bus only. :)
You made my day, thanks
I have no idea how urban/suburban China is laid out
Really, really badly. American cities have been designed to accommodate traffic for a century. But in China, even 20 years ago, 95% of the people used bicycles.
Specifically, it doesn't address two items:
1) no one in major Chinese metro follows the traffic or parking laws. Half the time there will be cars driving on or parked on the rails, or a motorcycle swerving between its legs.
2) trucks are everywhere and taller than 2 meters. That still means the bus has to stop everytime a truck is in front of it.
It's not like they are building entire new cities during those 20 years. Oh wait they are...
With a name like that you should have at least a partial clue about China.
The general rule for driving in China is - no rules; and roadway lines mean nothing! I have been there! Drivers are insane! I cannot see this 'Straddle Bus' working, since other drivers ignore lines, signs, lights, and everything else! I once had a ride up the pedestrian walk in a cab! Unbelievable. Felt a bit analygous to a monkey with a machine gun!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.