Posted on 08/11/2010 2:23:14 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmag.com ...
What is missing are the hundreds of motor scooters that would be riding between the wheels of the bus :-)
Maybe they’ll decide to ride the cool new bus instead and carry a fold up cycle. 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!
So who wins at an intersection when the cars or scooters want to turn and the bus is going straight?
What I experienced in Taiwan, the scooters are handy for all of the very narrow streets that people seem to live on. Typically, the bus would only get them half the way home. It might be a novel way of dealing with downtown traffic to a degree but still individual transportation wins favour everytime.
It was Richard Nixon who invited China into the modern world.
I see they’ve accepted his invitation with great vigor.
The government is still authoritarian, but it’s difficult to crush people when they are wealthy.
That’s why our government wants to impoverish us. We will be easier to “manage”.
China builds new cities and public infrastructure in months, meanwhile we take years and the red tape, regulations and self flagellation add millions to every shovel of earth turned.
Chinese will probably make it illegal to have that kind of accident tho...
Thanks for posting the pic. I was afraid to do it because of all this copyright crap. It’s pretty cool looking, isn’t it?
Thanks for posting the pic. I was afraid to do it because of all this copyright crap. It’s pretty cool looking, isn’t it?
(now I am thinking the right person)
Sorry for misdirecting the pic comment. Speaking of red tape and adding millions to every shovelful, did you see the article about the Los Angeles city employees’ salaries? Government wages at all levels are way out of hand. I’ll bet the Chinese government doesn’t do that. Of course, they’ve already subjugated the populace whereas in the U.S. it’s a work in progress.
It looks cool. But I think I’d feel kinda closed in when it went over me. Still, the idea could work. It’s like an elevated train that carries its own track with it.
So true what you said. However, I’ll never be “easy to manage” and I’d guess you won’t either.
> However, I’ll never be “easy to manage” and I’d guess you
> won’t either.
Right you are, FRiend. The statist busybodies think they know what’s best for us, you know, “it takes a village” and all that other “communitarian” swill. I ain’t buying it.
We have no king but King Jesus!
~ one of the battle cries from the War for Independence
Funny thing on the pic though - is that a Chrysler made Jeep?
They've had those for awhile...
That was actually for packages, not people. (to the best of my knowledge)
“That was actually for packages, not people. “
Depends on how badly you wanted on the train... ;0)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.