China’s Traffic Jam Longest in World: Could a ‘Super Bus’ be the Answer?

As China’s traffic jam reaches its 10th day, some have suggested the need for a new “super bus.”
China’s Traffic Jam Longest in World: Could a ‘Super Bus’ be the Answer?
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<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/china_traffic_jam103569163.jpg" alt="China's traffic jam has lasted for ten days, stretching 60 miles back. In the photo, truckers wait in their vehicles on the highway leading towards Beijing in Guo Lei Zhuang, in northern China's Hebei province on August 23, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)" title="China's traffic jam has lasted for ten days, stretching 60 miles back. In the photo, truckers wait in their vehicles on the highway leading towards Beijing in Guo Lei Zhuang, in northern China's Hebei province on August 23, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1815705"/></a>
China's traffic jam has lasted for ten days, stretching 60 miles back. In the photo, truckers wait in their vehicles on the highway leading towards Beijing in Guo Lei Zhuang, in northern China's Hebei province on August 23, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
China’s traffic jam has now reached its tenth day with a 60 mile tailback caused by roadworks ironically intended to alleviate congestion in the capital city of Beijing.

Street vendors are making good business selling food, water and cigarettes to drivers. Vehicles have become easy pickings for thieves at night when drivers are asleep, including petrol siphoning, according to the UK newspaper the Metro.

A long-term solution may be on the horizon with an elevated “super bus” designed to straddle two lanes of cars to alleviate congestion. The bus may arrive on roadways in December this year.

The eco-friendly straddle bus runs on both electricity and solar power, and will travel on rails. There will be two “legs,” each holding a capacity of 1,200 to 1,400 people on walls 3 meters above the streets.

Two lanes of small to medium-sized cars can pass under the compartment with laser scanners between the legs to warn cars to keep at a safe distance. An ultra-sonic detector to the rear will deny access to over-sized vehicles.

The bus “could ease traffic congestion by up to 30 percent, as it does not take up actual road space, but special tracks would have to be put down, elevated bus stops built and new traffic signals developed,” an official told AFP.