Here's the Full-Size Working Version of the Chinese "Straddling Bus"
Earlier this year, some video surfaced of a model version of an intriguing Chinese invention: a giant elevated bus on tracks that would actually be able to drive over traffic on the road instead of adding to it. Now it is finally real, at least insofar as any full-sized functional prototype can be. Which is to say “more real than you ever would have thought it would be.”
According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, the giant bus can ferry as many as 300 people over the traffic below, though this particular one won’t be doing that on the actual mean streets of Qinhuangdao City, where its braking system and power consumption are being tested. As Shanghaiist notes, the prototype is on a track that’s only 300 meters long, but that’s still quite the step up from the scale model that was on display at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo. Here’s to hoping we see in action and on a real street soon.
Source: Xinhua News Agency via Gizmodo
