m0thman
What does it do when it comes up to a large articulated lorry or a vehicle that\'s taller than the rest - jump?
Elevated bus stops are one thing, but how on earth does someone in a wheel chair get on the bus and I can really see a mother with three kids hauling them and all the shopping up a ladder. Oh, I forgot, they only have one kid each and well... the kid can carry the shopping.
Stupid idea.
robinyatesuk2003
the trouble with a lot of people is they only see the future as a continuation of today and not a chance to do things bigger and better than todays way !
Muraculous
Brilliant. In order to be practical, cars will have to wait until the bus has passed over before turning etc but that is no different than today\'s North American city buses blocking two lanes of surface traffic as they swing wide to turn (and, of course stop half way around the corner). I can see that the rail system would be a better overall solution because the rail(s) can be positioned off the normal traffic lanes, preventing inattentive drivers from straying into the path of the wheels, causing the bus to have to stop until the lane clears.
mhenriday
I remember when we used to bike down those streets - to my mind a superior form of transportation, but not without its own problems. M0thman shouldn\'t simply assume that those who conceived the idea haven\'t taken into account the problems he/she mentions and more - watch instead the presentation to which a link is provided in the article ! An imaginative approach to a giganta urban problem ; I hope Gizmag will follow this up and report on the results of the Mentougou pilot programme !...
Henri
Ed
Oh! *THAT* won\'t be the cause of any accidents...no way! And it\'s not a bus...it\'s an over street rail!
Roselense
I can see where it would take some getting used to.
\"What the heck was that!!???\", as it whooshes over the top of your vehicle
PeetEngineer
Note to china,

Please review \'monorail\', and \'subway\'.
Novel idea, but it won\'t work. I give this a D-
dangzr
Awesome! This could be a greater feeder system to a mid distance light rail and long distance bullet train system, not only boosting jobs by thousands during infrastructure construction but if we play the trade game the way the Chinese do, we could require some assembly or modules be built here in the states. Moreover, as every country that has ever tried regional, long term transportation planning has shown, an overall encompassing transportation approach boosts efficiency and economic growth. Who needs jobs and economic growth, right?

I have read all the complaints and have yet to read one that 1) a college level engineering team could not solve and 2) a little education of the public could not solve. If one doesn\'t have the capacity to solve simple prolems one\'s self, one should get out of the way and let those who can, do.

Yes, there will be some accidents. But just like Portland has found with its downtown light rail, drivers have become accustomed to the system much more quickly than any one expected, with accidents about half of what was estimated.

I am not sure if it is arrogance or what, but when people dismiss an idea such as this after spending all of 30 seconds thinking about, do they actually think they are smarter than the hundreds of Chinese engineers and transportation experts who have spent thousands of hours digging deeply into this, often risking their careers on this?

Reminds me of the GM CEO who said in the early 2000\'s that nobody but a few tree huggers will ever buy a Prius.
dpark76
dangzr - I\'m totally with you. Great concept...and by definition a concept means it still needs more engineering and development.

It\'s quite obvious, most everyone that\'s commented here so far are from the US, probably from some hill-billy backward area like the midwest, and have never traveled outside the country (and I don\'t mean Mexico or Canada).

This is China, people...they have their own way of doing things their own unique set of circumstances and requirements. I could totally see concept working in special applications. Just like we have HOV lanes here in the US where only car with more than 1 or 2 people can go in , or lanes that specifically prohibit trucks or buses, the same thing could be done with this application.

Very interesting idea and possible potential here.
Facebook User
This straddling bus can be made to be very safe. It won\'t be making turns or lane changes except at marked locations or with traffic signal control. The bus can be equipped with sensors so it will stop behind an overheight vehicle or other obstruction.

Most of the time the bus won\'t be whooshing over anyone but rather cars will be shooting under it.

Now I think the undercarriage will be thicker than the model shows, looking more like pontoons rather than stilts. Either the lanes have to be wider or two lanes of traffic behind the bus get into single file when passing underneath.

I don\'t think the buses can park at the stations except after midnight. Smaller buses would not be able to fit under the straddling buses during off hours so the straddling buses need to run all day long.

Other questions and answers: http://www.cockam.com/stradbus.htm