THE straddle bus will not be seen on Shenzhen roads at least not in the near future.
Designed by a Shenzhen company, the 6-meter-wide vehicle runs along a fixed route. Its passenger compartment spans the width of two traffic lanes and sits high above the road surface on a pair of fence-like stilts that leave the road clear for cars to pass underneath.
The vehicle was named one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010 by Time magazine.
However, after discussions in early September involving people from urban planning, land and resources commission, traffic police bureau and bus operators, the commission said the straddle bus was a new concept in relieving traffic congestion, but more experiments and argument were needed before it was introduced, according to Chinese-language newspaper reports.
The straddle bus could be a threat to the safety of small cars and motorists could feel anxious when passing under it, the commission said. In addition, the big vehicle could disrupt traffic when turning.
It would be costly to build support facilities such as elevated bus stops, the commission said.
However, the designer of the vehicle, Song Youzhou, refuted the critics saying all the problems raised could be solved by measures such as painting the bus in striking colors, installing lights underneath and integrating the bus into the city s overall transport planning.
Song said the cost of infrastructure for the bus was around 50 million yuan (US$7.51 million) per kilometer, which was dwarfed by the Metro construction costs.
It is just a matter of time before the related problems are solved. Why can t we spend less time on doubt and more time on finding solutions, Song said.
Many foreign companies had called for cooperation on the bus, Song said.
The straddle bus is powered by a combination of grid electricity and solar power derived from panels mounted on the roof and at bus stops.
In a report in August this year, The New York Times said the decidedly odd-looking, extra-wide and extra-tall vehicle which can carry up to 1,200 passengers offered a traffic fix in China.
The straddle bus could replace up to 40 conventional buses with potential savings of 860 tons of fuel that 40 buses would consume annually, cutting 2,640 tons of carbon emissions, according to the designer.
(Martin Li)
