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China Builds 'Elevated Bus' That Drives Over Cars (washingtonpost.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Remember that futuristic bus design from China a few months ago? China has actually built it and is testing it on the streets. The Transit Elevated Bus or TEB-1, as it's called, stands nearly 16 feet tall and straddles two lanes of traffic, allowing cars to pass under it. The hope is for TEB-1 to someday alleviate major traffic in China and other crowded countries. Washington Post reports: "The Transit Elevated Bus piloted in China's Hebei province rolls along a designated track, making it similar in some ways to a commuter train or tram -- the key difference, of course, being that it runs on top of the existing roadway without the need to construct a separate overpass. Images distributed by Chinese media show a spacious passenger compartment -- measuring 72 feet long by 26 feet wide -- capable of holding up to 300 riders. Surprisingly, there are not very many seats. That would probably have to change should an American model ever come to fruition." The concept of the elevated bus first arrived in 2010, where the company claimed it would "cost 10% of a subway system and use 30% less energy than current bus technologies."
Lol. If you ever go to China then you will understand that written road rules don't really seem to matter. There is a definite attitude of biggest gets right of way. If you get hit by this thing you are going to be the one in trouble.
Exactly the kind of government pork projects that we undertake in the USA. Except it would take 11 years and tens if billions of taxpayer dollars to get the pilot off the ground, which would fail miserably, then be abandoned.
China today is like the U.S. in the 40s to 70s. And I mean that in a good way.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
There is a lot to criticize in this project, but the pace in which China can take crazy ideas, add manufacturing innovation, and put them into the real world is pretty spectacular.
It's definitely a crazy idea, but not necessarily more crazy than the hyperloop. China is to be applauded for trying a crazy new idea, which hopefully will allow them to observe and improve any significant deficiencies.
They're right here INSISTING that well, okay okay, it got built, but IT'LL NEVER WORK! Because turns and trucks and bridges and all KINDS of DUH OBVIOUS real-world stuff (not that they've ever seen it, holed up their moms' basements) that those stupid "engineers" CLEARLY haven't thought about before pissing away MILLIONS on this thing!
In other words, a normal day on Slashdot. :)
In china they falsely accuse people of capitalism. :D
If a businessman become es to rich and doesn't show proper party support he vanishes. In the last year 2 or 3 Chinese billionaires vanished without a trace and all their assets confidently going back to the government.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
I would think it would wreak disaster in the wrong hands
It sure would. That's what's unique to this vehicle. A train in the wrong hands, a cargo ship or oil tanker, an A380 airplane - you could never cause harm with these vehicles no matter what you did with them. But this little bus on rails - fucking lethal. They better keep a lid on this shit.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
You don't understand. The average slashdotter can envisage things in 1 min's consideration that 100s of Chinese engineers will simply not think of in years of work.