China has used its annual China Beijing International High-Tech Expo to unveil the design for an elevated bus that would carry up to 1,400 passengers over the top of cars on the road.
The transit elevated bus (TEB) was designed in China and consists of a passenger compartment connected to two legs, running along rails, that allow the bus to pass over the top of other road users, as long as they're under two metres high.
"With a carrying capacity of 1,200 people at a time, the TEB has the same functions as the subway while its cost of construction is less than one fifth that of the subway," Bai Zhiming, engineer in charge of the TEB project, told China's CCTV.
"Its construction can be finished in one year."
CCTV reported the first test of the bus design was scheduled for Qinhuangdao City, in China's northern Hebei Province, for the second half of 2016.
Video footage of a working model of the bus shows ramps that extend from the sides would allow passengers to board and disembark the TEB, which would be built in segmented sections.
The bus would have boom gates that the driver could lower underneath the passenger compartment to stop traffic going through if necessary.
The TEB could reach speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour and the Xinhua news agency reported the designers believe the bus could reduce both congestion and air pollution.
The transit elevated bus model in action. Source: YouTube
The project's chief engineer Song Youzhou told Xinhua the bus would have a similar function to a subway but would cost 16 per cent less and would save more than 800 tons of fuel a year.
It is expected the design could replace up to 40 buses.
