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posted by
janrinok
on Thursday August 04 2016, @09:51PM
from the don't-knock-it-till-you've-tried-it dept.
from the don't-knock-it-till-you've-tried-it dept.
previously: Straddle Bus 'Eats' Cars As it Speeds Down the Highway
Shanghaiist reports that an example of the TEB-1 (Transit Elevated Bus) has been built and has been tested on a 300 m track. The bus is of an unusual design: 7.8 m wide, its wheels rest both sides of a road, with the main part of the body high above street level so that other traffic can pass beneath. It is electrically powered. Passengers enter and leave via raised platforms. Its capacity is variously reported as 300 or 1200 passengers.
additional coverage:
- TechCrunch
- official news agency Xinhua
- Washington Post
- video by Descubre tu Mundo
- video by ELive Now
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:00PM
The turning radius on that must be crap. It will probably only be good for use on specially designed highways. Although maybe it would be cost-effective to provide alternate tracks just for tight curves and then leave it on the road for all the straight aways.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:06PM
RTFA
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:42PM
Which one? There is no mention of turning radius in the shanghaiist article, which is itself barely more than a bunch of pictures.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @11:01PM
Fair enough! I read about this yesterday or day before, the article there had more details, specifically the bus will only run on special grooved tracks. Still pretty dangerous, but not nearly as bad. Like a cheaper train system that doesn't affect existing traffic so much.
Time will tell if it works out.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday August 05 2016, @02:22AM
I assumed that it wouldn't turn. But, then again, none of the Chinese cities I've been too have roads that are actually straight as they've mostly evolved over centuries and are rather oddly laid out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:58PM
It is not a BUS, but an electric trolley or train. It is riding on rails!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @11:23PM
What's your point? That doesn't have anything to do with the turning radius. It is intended to be retro-fitted to freeways as a cheap alternative to building subways.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 05 2016, @01:28AM
What's yours? Freeways do not have tight corners. Neither does trains or trolleys.
Bigger question is how on and off ramps work. Also if there is breakdown on the side does this super trolley have a cow-catcher ?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 05 2016, @12:43AM
Double decking the road without building additional road (though, the elevated platforms are some construction effort.
It could be useful in some high traffic routes, but it's not a complete point to point solution - more like a slow rail system, without having to dig a tunnel.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:00PM
As soon as we get rid of all those overhanging street lights, traffic signals, wires, tall tractor-trailers and double decker buses, fire trucks and over-passes were all good to deploy.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Touché) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:59PM
Obviously a route that can't accommodate vehicles as tall as 13'6" can't be done. Clearly this can't be used anywhere in the real world! I mean, what are they expecting big truck drivers to do? Make sure their entire route has enough vertical clearance? Not use certain lanes on the highway? Madness! The economy would grind to a halt! Just another example of leftist socialist delusion!
/s
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday August 04 2016, @11:27PM
Chinese people are smaller, so OBVIOUSLY, truck drivers there will be smaller and so will their trucks.
Leftist socialist delusionalists are also smaller there.
/sarcasm indeed! but my sarcasm is big because I AM CANADIAN! Now where'd that Budweiser go?
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 05 2016, @12:35AM
What happened to Molson and Labatt's? No, wait, I don't want to know. :(
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday August 06 2016, @12:34PM
Anymore, if you want 'Canadian' beer, you gotta go small craft or make it yourself. :(
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Thursday August 04 2016, @11:08PM
> overhanging street lights, traffic signals, wires
On a route traversed by tractor-trailers or double-decker buses, low-hanging obstacles may already have been dealt with, I imagine. If not, the cost of making them may be weighed against the costs or disadvantages of alternatives.
> tall tractor-trailers
The advantage of the TEB-1 is hoped to have, apparently, is that it won't block other traffic. If there's a tractor-trailer waiting behind it, that advantage lessens. Drivers of tractor-trailers could be asked to take alternate routes, or to operate at off-peak hours.
> double decker buses
I doubt there's enough clearance for any bus to pass underneath the TEB. However the TEB could replace some other buses, which would mitigate the problem.
> fire trucks
We certainly don't want to keep those waiting. However, according to the earlier story the TEB is supposedly capable of travelling at 60 km per hour. One solution would be for the TEB to travel at maximum speed, ahead of emergency vehicles. When there is other traffic that those vehicles must avoid, the TEB might not be be much of an impediment. Another solution would be for tall emergency vehicles to use alternate routes.
> over-passes
Rebuilding overpasses is certainly costly. However if widening a road or tunnelling beneath it are under consideration as alternatives, the TEB may be economic.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday August 04 2016, @11:27PM
I looked at some of the pictures on line of this thing.
If you have a perfectly homogeneous traffic flow, composed of compact cars, it might work.
Mount a bicycle on a roof rack? Maybe not.
Your typical freeway has has about 15 feet of clearance, and the regulations say anything less than 14 feet has to provide advance warning for the truckers. Who know's what China's regs say. But clearly these TEBs are not going to work with current mixed traffic flow in most places.
Googling up some images of traffic in china seems to suggest a much more uniform mix of vehicles. Still there are more than a few buses and trucks.
The whole problem goes away by just giving the TEB taller legs, (20 foot of clearance) and mounting lights and traffic signs between 15 to 20 feet.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday August 05 2016, @01:00PM
Just FYI, the Interstates in the U.S. have a minimum height requirement of 16ft (4.9m). Anything less has to be marked. Some states such as VA, have more stringent requirements, where it is 17ft (5.2m). In Texas, they like their interstates TALL! I mean crazy clearances tall, and they like to let you know. In DFW there are bridges marked with warnings that they are only 25ft! They don't do no metric shit there man.
*Old Freigtshaker pilot.
Back on topic:
It seems to me that once the figure out the route for this, they would just restrict taller vehicles from the roads they operate on. Any thing that still required a large truck could still be done during non-operational hours, I'm assuming of course, that it would not operate 24 hours a day. Many times over the years I saw my routes change and areas I was once free to drive in restricted either wholeheartedly or during certain times of the day due to infrastructure changes.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday August 05 2016, @04:52PM
Its pretty clear this thing will require special custom built highways with hardened shoulders, car exclusion barriers, pedestrian fencing, etc.
So given that, its no different than any other mass transit project down freeway corridors. It will be disruptive, require massive rebuilds, total redesigns of on and off ramps etc. And in the end it is only suitable for short distance runs, in reciprocating service (to the airport and back, and only one vehicle at a time).
In short its destined to be another Seattle Monorail; a specialized one time installation, never to be repeated, extended, and maybe used as a tourist trap. (Seattle built an extensive surface lite-rail system and still runs the monorail as a tourist destination).
Meanwhile a rail link down the center median, (elevated or not) can and has been implemented all over the world, for far less money, and far less disruption, and can operate trains (in both directions) without impact to all other highway transport modes.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday August 06 2016, @11:19AM
Ah, yes, the Monorail.
As many times as I have been to Seattle (I live on the other side of the state, Spokane) I have never ridden it, but I certainly remember the spectacular promises that were supposed to be realized by it. And the dismal failure it became...
Yeah, I realize the complexity and chaos any large construction project can be. I have traveled every major road to every major city in the country, as well as thousands of minor roads and towns. Chicago rebuilt its major freeway through the city, L.A. added some rail service, NYC is always under construction. Reroutes, both temporary and permanent, are a fact of life for large vehicle operators. In that aspect only, large traffic will be the least of their concerns, as it's just a fact of life to the drivers.
Chicago has a lot of train median train links, and expansions of the that system are less disruptive than many other rail expansions I had to route around (L.A. I'm lookin' at you!). Of course, being that it's the Chinese, they may just insanely expand it just to say they did it, regardless of how disruptive or popular it is. If Seattle's monorail had been built in Beijing, it would likely of been constructed across the entire city. Who knows, they might just pull this off, it went from concept to working model in quite short order. They should try the Hyperloop! Bet they'd have a working one in a decade!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday August 06 2016, @11:22AM
"train median train links,"
Honestly, I did preview.
Unfortunately, I ran by the weed store on my way home.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:02PM
The text in the summary isn't quoted from Shanghaiist. I wrote it...so beware. :-)
(Score: 2) by n1 on Thursday August 04 2016, @10:45PM
I have updated the story. Now you can get the appropriate credit and/or blame ;)
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday August 05 2016, @01:08PM
This is 2016. We choose blame as the default setting. ;)
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.