China to launch ‘straddling bus’ TEB to ease traffic jams

Plans for the so-called Transit Explore Bus or TEB were showcased earlier this month at a technology expo in the Chinese capital.

这项被称为"运输探索汽车"的计划于本月早期在中国首都的一个技术展上展出。

The "straddling bus", which owes more to Blade Runner than China's car-clogged highways, is supported by two legs that run along rails laid along the roadside.

该"立体快巴"的设计，相比起因中国拥堵的公路而诞生，更像是取灵感自《银翼杀手》，由两腿支撑着在跨越公路的轨道上运行。

Those legs allow the TEB's giant frame to glide high above the gridlock at speeds of up to 60km per hour. Equally, vehicles that are less than two metres high will be able to drive freely underneath the bus, even when it is stationary.

车腿能够让TEB的巨型车身以每小时60公里的速度在超级拥堵的路面上滑行。同样地，高度小于两米的汽车能自由地在这辆汽车下穿行，即使当它静止的时候。

"The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space," Song Youzhou, the project's chief engineer, told Xinhua, China's official news agency.

"该车最大的好处是，它将节省大量的道路空间，"该项目的首席工程师宋有洲对中国官方通讯社新华社的记者说。

Song claimed his buses, capable of transporting up to 1,400 commuters, could be produced for 20% of the price of an underground train and rolled out far more quickly since the supporting infrastructure was relatively simple. One TEB could replace 40 conventional buses, he said.

宋有洲声称他的公交车能够运送多达1400名乘客，以地铁20%的造价生产，并能更迅速地运行，因为其配套基础设施相对简单。一辆"立体快巴"能顶替40辆传统公交车，他说。

A prototype will reportedly be deployed on the streets of Qinhuangdao, a coastal city about 300km east of Beijing, this summer.

该车的原型据称将于今年夏天被部署在秦皇岛的街道——北京以东约300公里的沿海城市。

The project has been greeted with anticipation in China, where traffic jams have grown as the country overtook the United States to become the largest car market on earth in 2009. Last year alone 21.1 million passenger cars were sold here.

随着2009年中国超过美国成为世界上最大的汽车市场，交通更加拥堵，因此该项目在中国很受期待。仅仅去年就出售了2110万辆汽车。