If you find yourself in China and suddenly see what you thought was a tunnel start moving, don’t worry; it’s actually just the nation’s new and experimental bus that allows other vehicles to pass beneath it.
The concept of the transit elevated bus that would straddle the road has been in play in China for some time now, but the first real life tests that will take the mass transit vehicle beyond computerized concepts and into reality are set to take place in Qinhuangdao, China.
For now, the bus will be limited to a 300 meter long track, where its road-worthiness can be tested through a variety of controlled simulations. If it’s able to manage a variety of traffic conditions and proves to be mobile enough to handle the roads, it just may be rolled out onto the streets.
If the transit elevated bus is one day proven road-worthy, it’ll be like nothing ever seen on city streets. The electric-powered vehicle is over 72 feet long, has a body 25 feet wide, and is raised about six and a half feet off the ground.
One of the elevated vehicles can carry up to 300 passengers, and up to four of the vechiles could be linked together to transport 1,200 people at a time at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
While the transit elevated bus may look like something cars would have nightmares about, it presents a possibility for a viable option to improve public transit without overhauling infrastrcture or building new subways or trains—both considerably costly endeavours.
H/T Gizmodo
