A Chinese inventor presented the "straddling bus" as a solution to air pollution and traffic in urban areas in China. (Photo : Getty Images)
China's straddling bus landmark completes its first test drive this week and some are voicing their concerns about hiccups that may arise when this public transportation officially and regularly drives along Chinese city streets.
Formally known as the "Transit Elevated Bus" (TEB), the straddling bus was officially taken on a test drive on Tuesday in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, The Guardian reported.
Local media reports like one from Shanghaiist indicate that the test drive was deemed successful even though the vehicle only ran on track for about 300 meters.
The idea of creating the famous straddling bus was supposed to make life easier for commuters in the busy urban streets of China.
However, Wired.com pointed out a couple if things that should make the makers of the vehicle think twice about the TEB's current design.
First, there is the matter of ground clearance offered by the bus to the smaller vehicles it "passes over."
According to Wired, the public transportation which looks more like a train than a bus is almost 16 feet tall but only allows ground clearance of just around 7 feet.
This means drivers carrying large vehicles who are dumb enough to pass under the straddling bus might get stuck under it since standard clearance for U.S.-made tractor-trailers is 13.5 feet.
Even if there are no truck drivers who pass through, there is still the matter of filtering the traffic to avoid untoward accidents with tall vehicles.
Then, there is the matter of the TEB's width which covers two lanes. Wired said that while ideally, there should not be any problem, there will still be drivers who might get confused and decide to veer too close to the sides of the bus.
Also, cars under the straddling bus may fight it quite difficult to get in or out of it to change lanes or even exit the road to go to the end of their journey.
University of Tennessee civil engineer David Clarke described the experience of driving under the TEB as similar to an underpass "except it's a moving underpass."
With that said, Wired believes that engineers who plan to mass produce the Chinese straddling bus should find a nifty exit or entrance for those driving smaller vehicles.
