Engineers finally completed a full-scale moving mock-up of China’s wacky transport idea, the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), a large straddling bus that allows cars to drive underneath it. It was unveiled on Tuesday in Hebei province's Qinhuangdao city.
The TEB is about 22 meters (72.2 ft.) long, 7.8 meters (25.3 ft.) wide, and 4.8 meters (15.8 ft.) tall. It can pack up to 300 passengers, but underneath, multiple cars less than two meters (6.6 ft.) tall can drive under the TEB.
The TEB crawled rather slowly at the short 300-meter demo track, but engineers brushed it off because it was more a proof of concept than a technical test run. Song You Zhou, chief engineer, says the team behind the TEB plans to make the vehicle commercially available within a year to a year and a half.
The TEB could be a cost-effective way solve traffic congestion because it can carry hundreds of passengers at a time, without disrupting the regular flow of vehicles underneath.
Learn more in the Futurism video below:
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