Being Thrown Under the Bus......In a Good Way

[marmar]

from HuffPost:




3D Express Coach (PICTURES): China Plans Huge Buses That Can DRIVE OVER Cars

Huffington Post | Catharine Smith
First Posted: 08- 2-10 04:05 PM | Updated: 08- 2-10 04:06 PM


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 2 meters high to travel underneath the upper level carrying passengers.

China Hush, which has nicknamed the project "Straddling Bus" has details:

The model 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 under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles' way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.

According to Engadget, construction of the first 115 miles of track will begin in Beijing's Mentougou district at the end of 2010.

Check out our slideshow of the 3D Express Coach, then tell us what you think in the comments below.

For more information about this project, as well as a translation of the project's official unveiling by Song Youzhou, chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment, visit China Hush.

Slideshow at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/02/3d-express-coach-pictures_n_667452.html#s121535

[Warpy]

1. That's really great and would work better than putting up monorail tracks

in medians on city streets, something that has always restricted the numbers of streets where it could be done.

Public transit will look a lot better to you if you're stuck in gridlock and one of those things just goes by overhead like you're not even there, stopping at red lights and then proceeding like it's the only thing on the road.

[NoNothing]

2. Seems to me the cost comparison should be not vs. subway but vs. El

Personally, I think an El system is probably more practical in the long run and accomplishes the same thing.

[asdjrocky]

3. I love these posts.

I always look forward to the cool pictures of mass transportation. It's like watching cool sifi movies as a kid, only difference is, in other countries, this is not sifi, but reality.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Future FAIL

I'd bet a sack of whole-wheat, honey dipped, HFCS-free donuts on it.

[YOY]

5. Your Walmart dollars and former manufacturing job at work!

n.t.

[enlightenment]

6. Neat idea.

I can see something like that (smaller) working well on the Las Vegas Strip. About six years ago they were planning on building a monorail system that would - eventually - extend from the airport, go next to the Strip (there is an existing short monorail that goes through several of the hotels), and terminate near Fremont Street (the old 'Strip' in the original center of the city). More than just transporting tourists, it would have offered a much better transport option for industry workers and residents - and decreased the road traffic in the area.

It never panned out, of course.

[marmar]

7. And isn't the monorail they did build a huge financial disaster?

nt

[enlightenment]

8. Yep.

A consistent money-loser. That monorail would have been linked to the larger system (I think - it's been awhile since I looked at the plans; we did the historic building survey for the SHPO). As it is, it is kind of like the bridge to no-where. It runs from the MGM Grand, up the Strip (through the Casinos), to the Convention Center, and terminates at the Sahara. There is another, smaller monorail that runs from the Luxor to the Excalibur (the Excalibur is catercorner across the intersection from the MGM) but they don't connect.

The cost is outrageous; a single ride ticket is $5.00, a day pass is $12.00, and a 3-day is $28.00. It's not worth it, even if you're a conventioneer - most folks who attend conventions stay at off-Strip hotels anyway unless they get a package deal.

If they had followed through with the larger scheme it would have been very effective and cost-efficient. They were fighting an uphill battle, of course - particularly from the taxi and limo companies who currently have a lock on airport transport.

Oh, well.

[ljm2002]

10. And the reason for that is...

...the damned thing doesn't do anything useful.

If you were thinking of riding the monorail to avoid walking, ha ha ha think again. To get to it, you have to walk to the back of whatever building the station is at -- away from the Strip, through the casino, and back even further to get to the station. Then you pay your $5 to take a short ride along the back side of the Strip -- i.e. the view is ugly ugly ugly, nothing attractive about it. Then when you get off, it's another long trek back to the front of the destination building. And to top it all off, it doesn't even go to the airport.

So why would anyone in their right mind ride the thing more than once? Answer: they wouldn't.

It's a shame they don't have anyone with vision on the committees that design these systems. This could easily have been predicted. If I have to walk 50% as much as I would have without the monorail, and I have to pay $5 a pop for the privilege, then really, what is the point?

[flamingdem]

9. LOL - great title by for the OP!

That thingy is fascinating.