China has developed an American-style infatuation with the automobile. As a result, traffic in most major cities' streets is a nightmare. So the Chinese government has been experimenting with multiple public transport options.This latest concept, known as the 3D fast bus, runs on stilt-like legs, ferrying passengers some 14 feet above the road, while allowing other vehicles to pass underneath. It is sort of a hybrid bus and train that can run on either rails laid on either side of the road, or on wheels that are programmed to follow routes painted on the pavement.
The company behind it, Shen Zhen HuaShi, says they are starting construction at the end of the year in the suburb north of Beijing. Although Chinese official says it will be at least a couple of years before it actually gets completed. It is expected to cost about seven million dollars per kilometer to build. Each car costs about four million dollars. Chinese state media, which has reported widely on the project, says the construction costs are about a tenth of what it would cost to build a subway. Obviously, the first question everyone asks is: How does it not run into other traffic?
The bus will supposedly use a system of lasers and ultrasound to fend off some other vehicles. Some western transportation experts say it will never work because it is just impossible to rule over a traffic like that. But others give the Chinese credit for even attempting such a system, as traffic planning is always a bit of a trial-and-error process.
