China demo Transit Elevated Bus

Many considered it as a crazy idea when placed six years ago. But China took it rather seriously and put the experiment into test. They have demo-run the world’s first Transit Elevated Bus Service (TED) in Hebei province's Qinhuangdao city on Tuesday. The most exciting part of the bus is that other cars and vehicles, less than two-metre tall, can drive through under this humongous carrier. About 22 metres long, 7.8 metres wide and 4.8 metres tall, TED is capable of carrying 300 passengers on its sixteen tyres guided by eight pairs of rail wheels, , reports Engadget. [iframe id="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzpU4RjjJ8k" align="center" mode="normal" autoplay="no" parameters="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpU4RjjJ8k" grow="yes"] The bus is a bit taller than regular double-deckers and the limitation is due to the existing bridges in China. It is supposed to reach 40 to 50 km/h (about 25 to 31 mph), but the experimental electric vehicle moved cautiously slow on its rather disappointingly short 300-metre demo track. It was more of a proof of concept demo rather than a technical test run, because the vehicle here isn't the real deal. No bridges, no traffic lights, no crosswalks and no turns. Still, it was able to wow some folks, especially those who were allowed to board the TEB to get a taste of the large space inside -- a bit like an enlarged subway train as opposed to having long rows of seats like a ferry. Song You Zhou, the inventor and chief engineer of the TEB, told WCC Daily back in May that if all goes well, it'll only be a year to a year and a half before the vehicle hits the market. But there is still a lot of questions in the air. For one, what's the purpose of this proof of concept demo? Why just 300 meters instead of the original 1km distance as mentioned by Song? And given that not all roads are straight, how safe is it for the cars driving underneath a TEB while on a slightly bendy road? (For the big turns, cars will have to stop and let the TEB go first.) Hopefully these questions can be answered shortly.