Road straddling bus designed to beat congestion

A road straddling bus designed to beat mega-jams in Chinese cities has been unveiled at a technology expo in Beijing.

The Transit Explore Bus, unveiled at the CHITEC technology expo, is a futuristic mass transit solution which drifts above traffic via rails either side of the roadway. The concept is supported by two legs and, according to Xinhua, the ‘bus’ can carry 1,400 passengers and travel at speeds of up to 60km per hour. This is able to take place whilst vehicles less than 2 metres can travel underneath the straddling bus.

Straddling bus could carry 1,400 passengers and travel at 60km per hour

“The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space,” said Song Youzhou, chief engineer of the project speaking to Chinese media. He went on to say that the bus would have a similar function to the subway but at 16 percent of the cost.

According to reports the bus will be powered by electricity and could replace approximately 40 conventional buses. Mr Youzhou has suggested that this would represent a saving of over 800 tons of fuel a year and reduce carbon emissions by 2,480 tons.

A concept vehicle is currently under construction in the Chinese city of Changzhou in order to test the design feasibility.