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China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under

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M

Mudkips

Banned
Doytch said:
Why do people think this is more dangerous than a regular bus? As a driver, you'd have to veer into the bus while driving under it, just as you'd have to veer into a regular bus from the side. Except now you can't rear end it.
Click to expand...

Traffic or stoplight.
You are currently under the "bus".
The bus decides to change lanes or turn.
 
M

me Jojo

Member
What if it wants to turn but there's cars underneath it that want to go straight. Does it have to wait for it to be completely clear of cars?
 
D

Doytch

Member
Mudkips said:
Traffic or stoplight.
You are currently under the "bus".
The bus decides to change lanes or turn.
Click to expand...
This contraption laughs in the face of lanes, as you can see.

And I assumed this would work like light rail, where it just goes north/south or east/west. It wouldn't make turns, and just slight bends in the road.
 
L

linsivvi

Member
According to the video:

-The bus can go either on rail or off. The guy said something like when it's off rail the bus just follows the white lines. Don't know if it uses some kind of technology to do so.

-It takes much less time to build a bus like this than any kind of mass transit system

-It uses ultrasonic? to alert cars that are too tall to drive under or cars that are driving too close to the edge of the bus.

-It runs on electric and can be solar-powered or recharged at the stations.

-It uses an escape system similar to those found on planes in case of accidents.

-The traffic system will be adjusted. When the bus needs to turn at a traffic light, then only the bus and those cars that turn the same direction go first.

I still doubt it would work.
 
P

Parallax Scroll

Banned
kevm3 said:
Pretty cool idea until you need to turn but you can't because you have a giant bus hovering over you and boxing you in.
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Is that really any worse than driving parallel to the train tracks, and not being able to make your left turn until the train has passed? The traffic lights in my city are synchronized with the train, so the light stays red until the train has passed.

I think this concept is pretty cool. Good use of space.
 
D

Dali

Member
linsivvi said:
According to the video:

-The bus can go either on rail or off. The guy said something like when it's off rail the bus just follows the white lines. Don't know if it uses some kind of technology to do so.

-It takes much less time to build a bus like this than any kind of mass transit system

-It uses ultrasonic? to alert cars that are too tall to drive under or cars that are driving too close to the edge of the bus.

-It runs on electric and can be solar-powered or recharged at the stations.

-It uses an escape system similar to those found on planes in case of accidents.

-The traffic system will be adjusted. When the bus needs to turn at a traffic light, then only the bus and those cars that turn the same direction go first.

I still doubt it would work.
Click to expand...
:lol

They'd have to turn on the exact same arc as the bus. Maybe no problem with one car having two lanes to maneuver, but what if both car lanes wanted to turn? They'd have to be some precision-driving mfs.
 
N

NetMapel

Guilty White Male Mods Gave Me This Tag
The whole turning at intersection thing can be easily fixed by having a separate traffic light that only allows those buses to turn. So it'll be, red, yellow, green, and bus (kind of similar to left-turn only light except it'll only be for buses to make left or right turn. Since everything is automated with this bus, I think the bus light can just activate whenever there is a bus waiting at the intersection to make a turn.
 
D

Dali

Member
NetMapel said:
The whole turning at intersection thing can be easily fixed by having a separate traffic light that only allows those buses to turn. So it'll be, red, yellow, green, and bus (kind of similar to left-turn only light except it'll only be for buses to make left or right turn. Since everything is automated with this bus, I think the bus light can just activate whenever there is a bus waiting at the intersection to make a turn.
Click to expand...
It would have to make an extremely wide turn to prevent it from clipping the cars beneath it, though.

Also the vehicles that are too high may pose a problem. What if it gets behind a large truck that it can't go over? Kind of defeats the purpose of having a bus that can go over traffic if it's subject to the whim of the slowest vehicles on the road.
 
D

daemonic

Banned
Initially this seemed like such an awesome idea really, but after watching some of those video clips, maybe not so much after all :lol
 
M

Mudkips

Banned
linsivvi said:
According to the video:

-The bus can go either on rail or off. The guy said something like when it's off rail the bus just follows the white lines. Don't know if it uses some kind of technology to do so.

-It takes much less time to build a bus like this than any kind of mass transit system

-It uses ultrasonic? to alert cars that are too tall to drive under or cars that are driving too close to the edge of the bus.

-It runs on electric and can be solar-powered or recharged at the stations.

-It uses an escape system similar to those found on planes in case of accidents.

-The traffic system will be adjusted. When the bus needs to turn at a traffic light, then only the bus and those cars that turn the same direction go first.

I still doubt it would work.
Click to expand...

They should have built regular busses with ramps to allow cars to go over them.
 
A

artist

Banned
Trojita said:
hugebus02082010-1280706868.jpg


Yeah..... this is multiple accidents waiting to happen.
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Looks perfect for a couple of stunts in the next Mission Impossible movie.
 
K

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
demonix69 said:
Initially this seemed like such an awesome idea really, but after watching some of those video clips, maybe not so much after all :lol
Click to expand...
Yeah I feel the same.

This looks like it has a huge potential for disaster.
 
P

Poyunch

Member
Well judging from those clips it doesn't seem to be a good idea but that's not the buses' fault. I actually really like the idea of this and I would love to see these buses in use one day.
 
E

Eaten By A Grue

Member
seat said:
By far the funniest accident. That guy just stands around in the middle of the street for no reason, and the driver slowly runs into him. :lol
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That was the one which stood out to me too, WTF. It is like that is a four way intersection with no lights or stop signs what-so-ever. It is like a free-for-all. I hope no one was killed or seriously injured in those videos.
 
S

sangreal

Member
msv said:
In Chinese. Where's the translation?
Click to expand...
http://www.chinahush.com/2010/07/31...er-greener-and-faster-alternative-to-commute/

Translation:

What you can see from the video is traffic jams, what you can hear is noise, and there is also invisible air pollution. At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.

The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.

Another strength of straddling bus is its short construction life cycle: only 1 year to build 40 km. Whereas building 40-km subway will take 3 years at best. Also the straddling bus will not need the large parking lot that normal buses demand. It can park at its own stop without affecting the passage of cars. This is what the interior looks like: it has huge skylight that will eliminate passengers’ sense of depression when enter.

There are two parts in building the straddling bus. One is remodeling the road, the other is building station platforms. Two ways to remodel the road: we can go with laying rails on both sides of car lane, which save 30% energy; or we can paint two white lines on both sides and use auto-pilot technology in the bus, which will follow the lines and run stable.

There are also two ways in dealing with station platform. One is to load/unload through the sides; the other is using the built-in ladder so that passengers can go up and to the overpass through the ceiling door.

Straddling bus is completely powered by municipal electricity and solar energy system. In terms of electricity, the setting is called relay direct current electrification. The bus itself is electrical conductor, two rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places.

The set here is super capacitor, a device that can charge, discharge and store electricity quickly. The power it stores during the stop can support the bus till the next stop where another round of charging takes place, achieving zero toxic gas throughout the process.

About the ultrasonic waves put forth from the end of the bus, that is to keep those high cars or trucks away from entering the tunnel. Using laser ray to scan, cars get too close to the passage will activate the alarm on the bus end. Inside the bus, there are turning lights that indicate a the bus is intending to make a turn to warn the cars inside. Also radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.

Nowadays many big cities have remodeled their traffic signaling system, to prioritize public buses, that is to say when a bus reaches a crossing, red light on the other side of the fork will turn on automatically to give buses the right of way. Our straddling bus can learn from this BRT method. The car can make the turn with the bus if that is the direction it wants to go too; if not, the red light will be on to stop the cars beneath while the bus take the turn.

The bus is 6 m in width and 4-4.5 m high. How will people get off the bus if an accident happens to such a huge bus? Here I introduce the most advanced escaping system in the world. In the case of fire or other emergencies, the escaping door will open automatically. I believe many of you have been on a plane. Planes are equipped with inflated ladder so people can slide down on it in emergency. I put the escaping concept into the straddling bus. It is the fastest way to escape.

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.
Click to expand...
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Good, let them try it there, and if it's not a disaster, other countries can adopt it.

I'm also wondering how it turns if it's on rails...
 
S

sangreal

Member
xbhaskarx said:
Good, let them try it there, and if it's not a disaster, other countries can adopt it.

I'm also wondering how it turns if it's on rails...
Click to expand...

The same way trains and trolleys turn.
 
L

linsivvi

Member
It's really just a very large, advanced tram. The only problem is allowing cars to go under. People break rules.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
sangreal said:
The same way trains and trolleys turn.
Click to expand...

Trains don't make 90 degree turns on city streets, and trolleys have 1-2 individual cars that are barely attached to each other compared to these things.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
qx8j9.jpg


I see two glaring problems with the emergency exits:
One, passengers are sliding off at a 35-45 degree angle or so, and if you take the black window area and drop it down at that angle, there is probably around 6-8 feet between the edge of the "slide" and the ground, so people would certainly get injured.
Two, on multi-lane roads (like the pic below) passengers on one side (left side in the pic below) would be jumping out into oncoming traffic.
 
M

McLovin

Member
UFRA said:
This is how the Chinese driving habits are...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xat-TUpaTo
Click to expand...
Thats not nearly as bad as my home country. Traffic lights are completely ignored in Dominican Republic. I was on vacation there last year our light was green and this bus full of people, a few of which where hanging outside of the bus(yeah were bad ass like that :p) shot right across the street. That fucking bus driver at a red light while traffic was moving.. he didn't look left or right either. It was completely normal for him :/
 
P

panda21

Member
i can see how it could work just going on a single road.. but how does it all end? i mean the cars and the bus can't keep driving forever. at some point either the cars or the bus will need to turn off the road, and then its a whole world of crash and death.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
You know . . . this is so simple but makes so much sense that you kinda feel stupid for never thinking of it.

Basically, instead of building an elevated train with miles and miles and miles of expensive elevated track, you build the track on the ground and elevate the train on stilts.


Of course it has downsides . . . those stilts can collide with things, so it conflicts with surface traffic somewhat . . . you can't run it any full speed between stations. But it probably does have some use in some areas.
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
xbhaskarx said:
Trains don't make 90 degree turns on city streets, and trolleys have 1-2 individual cars that are barely attached to each other compared to these things.
Click to expand...
The way I see it is they have the trains get priority at an intersection and just roll through. Cars simply wait the few seconds it takes for the train to pass, then turn. No different from waiting for pedestrians when the light changes. PEACE.
 
M

Mudkips

Banned
Pimpwerx said:
The way I see it is they have the trains get priority at an intersection and just roll through. Cars simply wait the few seconds it takes for the train to pass, then turn. No different from waiting for pedestrians when the light changes. PEACE.
Click to expand...

If there is a car under the bus and the bus needs to make a tight turn, the car is fucked.
 
M

Meier

Member
Doytch said:
Why do people think this is more dangerous than a regular bus? As a driver, you'd have to veer into the bus while driving under it, just as you'd have to veer into a regular bus from the side. Except now you can't rear end it.
Click to expand...
Because you can't get out from under this thing when you want to. What if you suddenly need to turn? Heck, what if it isn't very sudden but you're trapped under it?

Without having seen the video, the concept seems ludicrous and this is from someone who doesn't own a car and is posting from the bus.
 
P

Polari

Member
Pretty great idea. It's a much more efficient use of space than anything other than subway or monorail and I imagine it's a lot cheaper and can scale over long distances more easily than either of those.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Oh god, I misread this title as: "China to build ginormous breasts that cars can drive under"


Had to do a double take.
 
G

greepoman

Member
seat said:
By far the funniest accident. That guy just stands around in the middle of the street for no reason, and the driver slowly runs into him. :lol
Click to expand...

Yeah I mean running through the intersection is one thing but the number of people who just stand in the middle of the intersection is mind boggling...I mean there's plenty of room to stand that's NOT in the road LOL.

I.E. can someone explain this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESfEd180rQ#t=2m14s

Is it me or is the bus going backwards? And whats up with people standing with children in the middle of an intersection?
 
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