This past weekend at the China Beijing International High-Tech Expo, China revealed an exciting new form of public transportation called the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB). With a loading capacity of some 1,200 passengers, the bus is designed to hover above cars to maximize road space. With China having notoriously bad traffic jams in such congested cities, this is seen as a breakthrough, as it is both economical and functional giving the pre-existing infrastructure.
With China’s dire pollution issue still on the rise, the designers were quick to highlight how the new transport is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly, with costs lest then 1/5 of the subway as well as powered by electricity, which is supplemented by solar energy generated by the roof panels. It’s exciting, for both citizens and government, that it can work with the current city designs, it’s economically feasible for the passengers, and it is something healthy for the environment.
Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, the company behind the TEB, say construction can be completed within a year. Trial operations are due to start in Qinhuangdao City, in north China’s Hebei Province, in the second half of 2016. Although this might be the most practical and likely to happen transportation system of the future, it is not the only one, as flying cars and Elon Musk’s new Hyperloop are pushing the barriers for what is humanly possible. Technology is accelerating at hyper speeds, let’s just hope our minds and ethics can keep up.
Source: https://www.rt.com/viral/344245-future-transport-bus-china/
