'Straddle bus' workable: inventor
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The "straddle bus" is expected to reduce traffic jams by about 30 percent and is less costly than urban subway system. |
The emission-free vehicle will run on 700 volts of electricity supplied at stops and overpasses through solar energy.
Blueprints for the vehicle have been forwarded to a combustion engine manufacturer in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and a rail wagon producer in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.
Both manufacturers are branches of the China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CSR), a state-owned manufacturer of electric locomotives.
Song said he is yet to hear back from the two manufacturers.
"If things go smoothly, the bus is expected to hit the road by the end of next year," he said.
Calls to the CSR went unanswered Wednesday.
The straddle bus, if successfully launched, may ease the traffic congestions that is worsening in China as its urban population expands.
At the end of 2009, China's urban population hit 620 million and the number of vehicles on the country's roads totalled 63 million.
Rush hour in major cities like Beijing, the Chinese national capital, and Shanghai is horrific and many have difficulty finding a parking place.
Despite the invention being hailed as a breakthrough, Luo Jiade, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, is skeptical.
"Cities like Beijing have already built a subway and bus system. It will be difficult to integrate so many means of public transportation into an organized network," he said.
"There should be careful planning before the straddle bus is added to the current transportation system."
