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China may have found an environmentally friendly way to save money while easing congestion on city roads, Engadget reports.
Instead of spending millions to widen roads, the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach" (also called a "three-dimensional fast bus") that will allow cars less than two metres high to travel underneath the upper level which carries the passengers.
The 'Straddling Bus' looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through underneath.
It's powered by electricity and solar energy and reaches 60 km/h carrying as many as 1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles' way. The cost to build a bus and a 40km track is only about 10% of building an equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by as much as 30%.
When completed, the straddling buses will run on "relay charges" of electricity and solar power. "The bus itself is electrical conductor," Song Youzhou explained during his presentation of the project. "[T]wo rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places."
According to Engadget, construction of the first 185 km of track will begin in Beijing's Mentougou district at the end of 2010.
Instead of spending millions to widen roads, the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach" (also called a "three-dimensional fast bus") that will allow cars less than two metres high to travel underneath the upper level which carries the passengers.
The 'Straddling Bus' looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through underneath.
It's powered by electricity and solar energy and reaches 60 km/h carrying as many as 1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles' way. The cost to build a bus and a 40km track is only about 10% of building an equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by as much as 30%.
When completed, the straddling buses will run on "relay charges" of electricity and solar power. "The bus itself is electrical conductor," Song Youzhou explained during his presentation of the project. "[T]wo rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places."
According to Engadget, construction of the first 185 km of track will begin in Beijing's Mentougou district at the end of 2010.
