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RTFA. It's a tall "bus" which straddles the roadway so that cars can drive underneath it. It does have to stop at intersections, but can also go faster than tr
by superuser2 10y ago
RTFA. It's a tall "bus" which straddles the roadway so that cars can drive underneath it.
It does have to stop at intersections, but can also go faster than traffic on the same road.
- vonmoltke 10y agoI did. If it has to stop at intersections, how is it not subject to being blocked by traffic? If it is rolling along the same road, what stops cars from moving in front of it? As far as I can tell, this system has no advantages over a tram/streetcar.
- flukus 10y agoA tram can be blocked by traffic, not just lights but cars backed up at those lights. If there is a traffic jam then the tram has to sit behind cars, this things can just cruise over the top.
- vonmoltke 10y agoHow does it cruise over the top when all available ground space is covered in cars? The only way it can do that is to give it dedicated ground space, at which point what is the advantage over dedicated tram/streetcar lanes?
- superuser2 10y agoIt's very rarely the case that "all" available ground space is covered in cars; most roads have a bit of extra width, even if not enough for an additional car + separation with the next lane over. Gutters, shoulders, bike lanes, etc. Sidewalks are also often wider than they need to be - there's usually a dead two feet or so on the sidewalks of major roads where signs or parking meters are planted.
- vonmoltke 10y agoThat extra space has a purpose and will still be needed with this thing installed. Gutters are not just there for drainage; they also serve as a space buffer between sidewalks and the road in places that don't have swales for separation. Shoulders are there for parking and getting broken-down vehicles out of travel lanes. Bike lanes are for, well, bikes. You lose those functions if you want to install this and not replace the thing you removed. As for the ground area it needs, it appears that the rails are roughly the width of a suburban sidewalk[1]. Add guard rails to keep people and vehicles from interfering with it and you have close to half a travel lane on each side consumed by this. What then is the advantage to this versus taking a travel-lane's width for a tram or installing an elevated people mover? [1] http://www.borntoengineer.com/china-unveils-prototype-straddling-bus/#howitworks http://www.borntoengineer.com/china-unveils-prototype-stradd...
- superuser2 10y agoA tram/streetcar needs a dedicated lane to be impervious to slowdowns. If dedicated lanes are on the table you could just use any old bus. The idea is to ride on existing (or slightly modified) roadway without taking lanes away from cars.
- vonmoltke 10y agoHow does this thing avoid traffic without dedicated lanes? It needs to touch the ground somewhere, and the article talks about installing guardrails and other measures to keep traffic from interfering with its movement.
- superuser2 10y agoThe parts that touch the ground aren't very wide, and can use something more like a gutter than a full lane.
- geezerjay 10y ago> but can also go faster than traffic on the same road. That's only true in traffic jams. Due to operational restrictions on how mass transit vehicles can safely operate (limits on acceleration and breaking, limits on centripetal acceleration on curves, distance between stops, average dwell times, etc..) bus/tram operating speeds are only a fraction of their peak running speed, which is somewhere between 25% and 60%.