With the world’s largest human population,the miles-long traffic jams have become a common sight in China. Over the time, this issue has evolved to be a great cause of inconvenience and annoyance for its citizens. But China has come forth with an astounding solution by inventing the Transit Elevated Bus(TEB).
TEB is a brainchild of the engineer Song You Zhou, who came up with this bizarre idea six years back. He aimed at building a large straddling bus that can allow traffic to flow beneath it and with a huge capacity to accommodate hundreds of passengers within it. To be economically feasible, this idea had to be cost-effective. TEB took its first ride on August 2, 2016, in the northeastern city of Qinhuangdao, in the Hebei province.
The Design:
TEB is 22 meters long, 7.8 meters wide and 4.8 meters tall. Its height is only a bit taller than a double decker bus so as to obliterate any chance of mishaps with the existing bridges in China. Consequently, only the cars less than 2 meters of height can drive under it. It has room for 1200 passengers. The bus works on electricity. It is expected to drive at 40 miles per hour after its launch. It will then become one of the fastest modes of travel in China.
The engineer in charge of the TEB project, Bai Zhiming said:
With a carrying capacity of 1,200 people at a time, the TEB has the same functions as the subway while its cost of construction is less than one fifth that of the subway.Its construction can be finished in one year.
Reception from public:
Those who got a chance to board the TEB were enthralled by its spacious design. As opposed to the long rows of seats, it has more room to move around in it. It appeared more comfortable than a subway train. With the high speed it promises to achieve in the future, TEB has the potential to become the first choice of transport in future.
Engineers hope that TEB will increase the availability of the road space, and cause fewer traffic jams and road accidents than a regular bus. It is also hoped to provide a cheaper and faster mode of public transportation in future.
Watch TEB in action in this video:
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