'Straddle bus' passes research test: inventor
Source: Xinhua |
September 3, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE "straddle bus," a newly developed vehicle that may reduce traffic jams by about 30 percent and is less costly than an urban subway system, has theoretically proved workable, according to its designer.
A work group led by Professor Zhang Jianwu from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University conducted the research that proved it could work, said Song Youzhou, the vehicle's inventor and chairman of the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment Company.
The "straddle bus" spans two traffic lanes and sits at a height of 4.5 meters. It would be used on major roads in cities and could reduce road traffic by 20 to 30 percent, according to Song.
The bus would run along special tracks and sit on a pair of stilts so ordinary cars can pass underneath it. It could carry up to 1,400 passengers and travel as fast as 60 to 80 kilometers per hour.
The cost of manufacturing the bus and building the road facilities would be 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) per kilometer, about one-tenth the cost of a subway line of the same length.
The time it would take to build its tracks is three times faster than that of a subway.
The product is estimated to have a market value of over 1 trillion yuan and may be a substitute for subway and bus systems, the inventor said.
The emission-free vehicle would run on 700 volts of electricity supplied at stops and overpasses through solar energy.
Blueprints for the vehicle have been forwarded to a combustion engine manufacturer in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and a rail wagon producer in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.
Both manufacturers are branches of the China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited, a state-owned manufacturer of electric locomotives.
Song said he is yet to hear back from the two manufacturers.
"If things go smoothly, the bus is expected to hit the road by the end of next year," he said.
The straddle bus, if successfully launched, may ease traffic congestion that is worsening in China as its urban population expands.
At the end of 2009, China's urban population hit 620 million and the number of vehicles totalled 63 million.
Rush hour in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai is horrific, and parking places can be hard to find.
Despite the invention being hailed as a breakthrough, Luo Jiade, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, is skeptical.
"Cities like Beijing have already built a subway and bus system. It will be difficult to integrate so many means of public transportation into an organized network," he said.
"There should be careful planning before the straddle bus is added to the current transportation system."
A work group led by Professor Zhang Jianwu from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University conducted the research that proved it could work, said Song Youzhou, the vehicle's inventor and chairman of the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment Company.
The "straddle bus" spans two traffic lanes and sits at a height of 4.5 meters. It would be used on major roads in cities and could reduce road traffic by 20 to 30 percent, according to Song.
The bus would run along special tracks and sit on a pair of stilts so ordinary cars can pass underneath it. It could carry up to 1,400 passengers and travel as fast as 60 to 80 kilometers per hour.
The cost of manufacturing the bus and building the road facilities would be 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) per kilometer, about one-tenth the cost of a subway line of the same length.
The time it would take to build its tracks is three times faster than that of a subway.
The product is estimated to have a market value of over 1 trillion yuan and may be a substitute for subway and bus systems, the inventor said.
The emission-free vehicle would run on 700 volts of electricity supplied at stops and overpasses through solar energy.
Blueprints for the vehicle have been forwarded to a combustion engine manufacturer in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and a rail wagon producer in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.
Both manufacturers are branches of the China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited, a state-owned manufacturer of electric locomotives.
Song said he is yet to hear back from the two manufacturers.
"If things go smoothly, the bus is expected to hit the road by the end of next year," he said.
The straddle bus, if successfully launched, may ease traffic congestion that is worsening in China as its urban population expands.
At the end of 2009, China's urban population hit 620 million and the number of vehicles totalled 63 million.
Rush hour in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai is horrific, and parking places can be hard to find.
Despite the invention being hailed as a breakthrough, Luo Jiade, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, is skeptical.
"Cities like Beijing have already built a subway and bus system. It will be difficult to integrate so many means of public transportation into an organized network," he said.
"There should be careful planning before the straddle bus is added to the current transportation system."
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