Chinese Tunnel/Bus

[FAPTurbo]

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/04082010/36/incredible-bus-tunnel-0.html

Chinese designers have come up with an innovative cost-effective public transport system: the tunnel bus.

The remarkable bus straddles two lanes of traffic, allowing cars to drive underneath while it carries up to 1,200 passengers.

It's environmentally sound too because it runs on electricity, using a state-of-the-art charging system. Called relay charging, the roof of the bus conducts electricity and contacts special charging posts as it moves along.

It's cost-effective because there are two ways it could operate: first off, special tracks could be laid into each side of the road, like a tram.

Or secondly, simple coloured lines could be painted onto the road for it to follow automatically on conventional tyres. There'll be a driver on the bus at all times, though.

Elevated bus stops will be erected to allow passenger to embark, or where there's no room for those the bus will have ladders. The emergency exits will be inflatable slides.

And if the straddling bus seems all to futuristic to be true, amazingly it isn't - a pilot scheme involving over 115 miles of tracks in Beijing will begin before 2011.

The trials will focus on traffic management and safety. Managing traffic flow is an issue: how, for example, to guarantee a bus can turn off a road safely while there is no traffic underneath.

The advanced stage of the plan suggests this is not an insurmountable issue. Then who knows - it could revolutionise public transport outside of China. London, perhaps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qjB_g7ZTc

[Drew Dowdell]

A mobile traffic constrictor is what it is.....

[FAPTurbo]

A mobile traffic constrictor is what it is.....

But think of how many drivers that suffer from claustrophobia will choose this mode of transport instead! Putting the irrational fear of closed spaces into the public could be the most persuasive way to get everyone into mass transit!

[Drew Dowdell]

But think of how many drivers that suffer from claustrophobia will choose this mode of transport instead!!

Oh yeah... cause I can't think of a better way to deal with claustrophobia than cramming into a two story bus with 1,500 people.

[SAmadei]

A mobile traffic constrictor is what it is.....

I disagree. Current buses are a mobile traffic constrictor. You can only run so many of them because they block up standard two lane/two way roads... and in NYC, they get bunched up so thick, there are no place for them to sit while waiting for sync up with the scheduled stops. I see buses 2-3 thick just sitting there waiting sometimes.

I think this is genius.

To me, if this is built on permanent tracks, its like one of those light duty rail/trolley systems some towns have now driving alongside traffic... but this takes up negligible space. Granted, there are safety issues, but people crash into buses all the time, as well... here the people are safety up high outta harms way.

I imagine there is also the issue of how easily it would be to lay out the tracks... in an organic city, like lower Manhattan, the roads curve too much... too little space... unless the buses and its supports are extremely articulated, it wouldn't work. And the more articulated, generally the less strength the supports can have. OTOH, a very rigid buses on arrow straight tracks through the grid portions of NYC would work great. You could run more buses and maybe get more ridership.

Of course, I'm sure once these would get critical mass, however, people would start complaining that they block out the sky or something.

[SAmadei]

Oh yeah... cause I can't think of a better way to deal with claustrophobia than cramming into a two story bus with 1,500 people.

If its build large enough, it will seem like a large moving platform... at least twice bus width.

Claustrophia is the Japanese subway system...

[pow]

Great idea. It's more subway or light rail than bus, but it's less expensive than those current options -- no need to deal with digging or grade separations.

[balthazar]

Interesting, but imagine the gridlock when a tractor trailer rams into one, knocking it off it's rails.

[Intrepidation]

I think hazards with big trucks and conventional buses could be a problem, but otherwise its a sound idea. No longer would buses hog lanes and hold up traffic, because you can drive right under them!

[SAmadei]

Interesting, but imagine the gridlock when a tractor trailer rams into one, knocking it off it's rails.

Well, I've recently been in NYC gridlock after a Tractor Trailer hit a bus and then got wedged so it couldn't get out. Nothing new here, really.

Current buses aren't all that strong... you see tour buses on the Parkway peeled open all the time.

In this case, I personally think the tracks and wheels should be recessed into the ground. That way, if a few supports are compromised, the entire platform doesn't fall, as the remaining legs can't pull out of the ground. Also, by putting the tracks and wheels out of harms way, people are less likely to get actually crushed in the tracks or electrocuted... assuming the power source is electric... the "third rail" could be well below the ground surface. Supports should be redundant and of a design that either breaks away or provides energy absorption, but not at the cost of compromising structural integrity. The platform should be higher than any usual traffic... tractor trailers included.

Just my thoughts.

[Satty]

If only there were a way to dig a tunnel underground and have some sort of mass transit system run through these series of tubes.

[SAmadei]

If only there were a way to dig a tunnel underground and have some sort of mass transit system run through these series of tubes.

That would be great. You could build it somewhere out in the middle of nowhere in virgin earth when nobody has buried 130 years worth of convoluted electrical, communication, plumbing and HVAC lines.

In 1904 they built a major portion of the original Manhattan NYC subway system in a bit over 3 years with pick axes. In 2010 they have been working on ONE line for 40 years and it won't be completed for about 2 decades more, even with the benefit of 4 giant boring machines. That's progress. Then you can walk 4 stories into the ground to get to it... due to the need to get below the infrastructure.

There are buses galore in Manhattan (and other cities) BECAUSE they can't built subways in a timely manner.

[SAmadei]

After thinking more about this idea... I think a smaller version of this bus would be a great solution as a car. Then you could pass cars by driving over top of them... and you could park on top of cars. Win-win. ;-)

[ocnblu]

You know when you are going to a new place and you're not quite sure where the turn is and traffic is bumper to bumper and suddenly there's the turn so you turn on your blinker that's full of fluid but NOOOOOOO the stupid bus is passing over but you don't realize it until you've turned and it smashes your new Sail to pieces and you die because it's a Chinese Chevy and it has a traditional Chinese crash protection structure? Um yeah.