Go go gadget straddling bus! Chinese super-buses glide over traffic

Gizmag ^ | August 3, 2010 | Loz Blain

[Natural Born 54]

So here's a fascinating public transport idea that we've never seen mooted before – giant super-buses that roll on stilts on small tracks between lanes of traffic. So they roll over the top of stopped traffic, and when they stop to let passengers on and off, they don't interrupt the flow of traffic below.

Far quicker and cheaper to build than a subway or monorail system, the Straddling Bus system simply requires modification to existing roads, and the creation of a network of elevated bus stops.

(snip)

This is not a pipe dream – the pilot program goes into construction by the end of this year in the Mentougou district of Beijing, where 186km of tracks will be laid. If it works, you can expect to see it rolled out across China's large cities – and FAST.

[TheCipher]

If you look at the pic of the bus, you’ll see they must have thought of the motor scooter problem and made it impossible - there is no space between the wheels to ride!

I live in Taiwan. Believe me, motor scooters ALWAYS find a place to ride ( and park ). If they don't fit between the wheels, they will ride on the roof :-)

[Opinionated Blowhard]

It looks like it will cost a fortune and need major road changes. Then again, it probably would be cheaper than an elevated train line.

[rbg81]

Since the “bus” is operating on a different level than the cars, I don’t see the intersection issue being a problem. That being said, I think this would be good for highways, but not necessarily for the inner city. For the city, what’s wrong with subways? Come to think of it, this look like a mod version of an El[evated] train.

[DUMBGRUNT]

passenger train that never stops at stations

Perhaps a way to move freight and passengers simultaneously? Only on one end of the train due to height ristrictions.

Details to follow by W.Green.

[Liberty1970]

1. Judging from the photo it can't turn.

2. People stuck under it can't turn.

3. People with claustrophobia will NOT like being under that thing.

4. What happens when someone has an accident and gets lodged in the undersides of that thing?

5. As someone else pointed out, how heavily armored will the underside be when someone crashes and there is a fire under it?

6. How strong are the stilts - can they withstand an SUV running a red light and impacting it at 50-70 kph, for example? Probably not. 7. The operational area will have to be heavily modified to move/remove street signs, overhanging wires, etc. that would interfere with its operation.

Maybe this can be done, but I'm betting there are some practical difficulties that will prevent it from happening.

[mountainlion]

Green Willie, how about a passenger train like this passing over a freight train?

[Rebelbase]

Inspiring drawing but lyrically it doesn’t work:

Pardon me, boy
Is that the Cantonese choo choo?
Track twenty-nine
Boy, you can gimme a shine
I can afford
To board a Cantonese choo choo

[nwrep]

On my many trips to China and back, it is becoming apparent to me that I am witnessing the slow regression of one society (the US) and the slow emergence of another (China).

Some of the most stark differences are in the manners and social protocols of public employees. The airport employees in Shanghai are trained to speak good English, and have excellent and courteous manners. Ditto for the immigration agents at the entry and exit, who always smile and say "Thank You." Then when I arrive in LAX or SFO (or JFK sometimes) it is readily apparent that I am returning to a third world country, the USA of 2010. Airport employees of various nationalities who do not speak good English, who are rude and brusque, and a general sense of disorganization and chaos that would have met a Westerner traveling to the Orient in the 1800s.

Clearly, the tables have turned. The Great Republic, once led by historic figures like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan has now devolved into socialistic banana Republic headed by an Ethiopian eunuch. A once backward, Communist land is now the epicenter of Capitalism and dynamism, co-opting the creativity and ingenuity of the West.

[wideminded]

So here's a fascinating public transport idea that we've never seen mooted before

I'm sure that lots of people have imagined gliding over traffic jams on vehicles with stilts. I used to think about that quite often. But my next thought would be all the reasons why it wouldn't work and would never be allowed (which is probably true in this country).

China has an official goal to become a leading country in innovation. They will undoubtedly do this. If they beat us in manufacturing AND innovation ... maybe it's better not to spell it out.

[Mr. Jeeves]

On my many trips to China and back, it is becoming apparent to me that I am witnessing the slow regression of one society (the US) and the slow emergence of another (China).

I noticed that, too. They've caught up, and this is the time - right now - when due to our economic malaise they have started to pass us.

[Natural Born 54]

Can’t argue with what you say. But, the tables can be turned back again when the direction of the country is once again in the hands of Americans.

(”Ethiopian eunuch”? LOL)

[beaubazzoo]

As a boy I lived in England in a town on the main railway line from London to Scotland.
We would often go down to the railway station to see the mail train pick up the mail bags while barreling through at 60 mph without slowing down.
The mail was sorted on the train and ready for delivery to all parts of London by the time the train arrived at Euston station.

[paulycy]

Cool! I’ve never seen such a thing having been raised in a suburb of Los Angeles. Just metro trains and general carriers.

[databoss]

Well...we don’t have organ harvesting trucks that travel around to various prisons execute the condemned and then harvest the bodies. People also don’t have their Bible confiscated nor are they imprisoned for possessing it.