Public transportation systems are a great solution to go from one place to another. However, buses are often competing on the roads with cars and trucks, which adds to the trafic congestions and pollution.
One Chinese company – Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co – might have found the solution : the straddling bus which goes literally over cars… To the inventors this would cut by 20 to 30 percent the trafic jams.
Such a system would cost a city up to 500 million yuan to – $56 million for 40 km of paths. This is a tenth of the cost associated to a subway system of this size.
The announced capacity is of 1200 to 1400 passengers, and the maximum speed would be of 60 kmph (nearly 40 mph).
To China Hush, these buses would be powered by electricity and solar energy and each bus could save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission.
Now I would like how it will actually work with real cars – and drivers. We might soon know as it will be put to a test in Beijing’s Mentougou District (bjnews). To Les Echos, there will be no less than 186 kilometers of paths built within the year…
If this turns out to be doing okay I guess the company might export their products to many cities around the world.
