China's '3D Fast Bus'

Treehugger.com | August, 3rd 2010 | What if there was a way to get most of the benefits of a subway, but without the costs of digging up all those tunnels?

The Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co. thinks it might be able to do just that with a concept it calls the 3D Fast Bus (which has also been called the straddling bus), and kind of giant bus/train that straddles the street and allows cars to drive right under it.

This means that it isn't slowed down by traffic and it doesn't add to traffic either. Read on for more details and a video showing a rendering of the 3D Fast Bus in action.



Compromise Between BRT and Subway

It's certainly a very interesting idea. Now we'll have to see if it can be pulled off without too many cost overruns and technical problems (though we might never know, China isn't exactly transparent about that stuff). Most cities would probably still be better off with a BRT, but in places where land is at such a high premium that you can't spare extra lanes for buses, and where it would just be too expensive and take too long to build a subway, this type of technology might be a good compromise.

www.AstroDigi.com (Nino Guevara Ruwano)