China's new straddling bus

Originally posted by Palynka
Well, the video seems to suggest trucks would not be able to drive underneath. I think accidents are the first issue that comes to mind, but is it a problem for the concept itself? I'm not sure. For example, motorway type barriers could still be put so that the cars don't actually hit the moving bus.

😵

what happens when the cars need to make left turns?

special overpasses for the new trams?

also, cars sometimes go over barriers during accidents.

i think it is a pipe dream.

Originally posted by zeeblebot
i think it is a pipe dream.

I missed this on the first read: The last sentence of the article reads:

Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.

So they are taking it seriously enough to actually try it out. I guess next year sometime we will see whether it works or not.

Originally posted by twhitehead
It looks like it would need straight roads (similar to rail requirements or even straiter), so finding suitable sites might be difficult. Also it would probably have to follow the center of a freeway making the choice of destinations limited.

The only real benefit over an electric tram seems to be space saving, but I am not convinced that is significan ...[text shortened]... everal times their length which cant be that much of a saving considering all the disadvantages.

The advantage would come when they stop to pick up and drop off passengers. If it were a bus in the same lane, traffic flow would be tied to the bus traffic. If cars can drive underneath, whether is is moving or not would not effect traffic flow. In that regard it would be a plus.

The way buses picks up passengers now, they are in the right lane of a 4 lane road, say, and they drive to the curb to pick up and drop off. Then they have to wait till cars go by and leave a space, slowing down the bus flow. With the oversized tram, when they stop, they don't have to turn and wait, they can just start up again, which would make the whole system faster from a passenger flow perspective.

I think it is a great idea, although at first the drivers will need some time to get used to driving underneath the bus. It is not accident-proof, but still, great idea!