In another one of those stories that gives you an idea of what the country might look like in 30 years but let’s face it – we know it won’t – designers have released images of a new and highly inventive type of bus.
Named the ‘3D Express Coach’, this innovative design was proposed by engineering firm Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment as an answer to the China’s overcrowded roads. As the pictures show, the bus will allow cars drive underneath while the upper level is carrying passengers.
The design is for an electric bus that is almost 15 feet high and solar-powered. It will be able to travel at speeds of up to 37mph but will be able to carry as many as 1400 passengers at one time. The design was unveiled at the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo earlier this summer, the design firm behind it say that it will reduce traffic jams by up to 30 per cent. No information is provided with regard to estimates of how long it might take to get on or off the bus but with a capacity of 1400 people all located on the upper level, it surely won’t be quick.
The estimated costs total 500 million RMB to build the bus and the tracks along which it will run, the firm claims this is only 10% of the cost of an equivalent subway system.
Song Youzhou, chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment, gave a presentation on the ‘3D Express Coach’ at the Expo and said that any cars that drove too close to the bus would automatically set off an alarm. Cars driving underneath the bus’ arch would be warned as they drive when it was about to make a turn. Radar scanners inside the bus would also warn cars if they were driving to close to the bus’ wheels. The 3D bus would use an inflatable escape ladder similar to on passenger aircraft in the case of emergencies, Mr Youzhou said, “A pilot scheme for the bus will take place in Beijing’s Mentougou District, with construction on the first 186km of track due to begin at the end of this year.”
