潮流遊記

China's ginormous bus 中國震撼創新: 立體快巴!

China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases and biggest energy consumer. But the country is also thinking in big and bold ways when it comes to how it will reduce pollution and a new plan to build a "straddling bus" is among the boldest space-age schemes yet.

In an effort to go green and relieve congestion without widening roads, the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach", also known as a "three-dimensional fast bus".

The innovation will allow cars less than 2 meters high to travel underneath the upper level of the vehicle, which will be carrying passengers. According to China Hush, the 6 meter wide 3D Express Coach will be powered by a combination of electricity and solar energy, and will be able to travel up to 60 kilometers per hour carrying some 1200 to 1400 passengers.

The first 115 miles of track is set for construction in Beijing's Mentougou district starting in late 2010. The Chairman of the Huashi Future Parking Equipment company boasts it will take only a year and 500 million yuan, around $73 million, to build the futuristic transportation system.

Seriously, this is the future that China's envisioning: huge friggin' buses engulfing smaller cars on the road. Despite the silly picture and the eccentric "3D Express Coach" branding, this cunning project by Shenzhen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment actually makes sense. The idea is to make use of the space between regular-size cars and bridges, thus saving construction costs as well as minimizing congestion impact by allowing cars to drive underneath these jumbo buses. Fancy hitching a ride? You better start planning your move to Beijing's Mentougou district, which is where Huashi will commence building its first 186km of track at year's end. For now, enjoy the Chinese demo video after the break.

未來交通系統:立體快巴 (中國高鐵下一站...)

中國高鐵的發展成效得到中外的讚揚，就連美國亦表示要向中國多多學習。近日，中國又有人提出了一個創新的概念--- 立體快巴。「立體快巴」外型酷似本港輕鐵，擁有空心的下層，横跨兩條行車線，在行駛時仍可讓其他小型車輛穿過，大大節省馬路的佔用空間，有效地舒緩交通擠塞問題。而且「立體快巴」成本低，建設時間又快，加上採用公用電力和太陽能為能源，既省錢又環保。「立體快巴」預料最快在2010年年底於北京門頭溝區開始動工。

2010年第十三屆中國北京國際科技產業博覽會在北京國際展覽中心開幕時，深圳一家公司展示如上圖“立體快巴”之項目，據介紹“立體快巴”運用軌道HRC機車的技術，快速公交(BRT)運營方式。規避傳統公交大巴佔用道路資源，並且具有載人多、速度快、零排放、成本低等特點。每輛可載客1200-1400人，最高時速可達到60公里/小時。
所謂的“立體快巴”是將平面交通立體化，它將是地鐵和快速公交的替代品。用以取代快速公交，因為快速公交佔道，而立體快巴能涵蓋快速公交的所有功能，還能把道路讓出來，可以有效緩解交通擁堵。

它相當於“劈腿小地鐵”
立體快巴長什麼樣？它猶如裝了“高蹺”的公交車，上面可載千餘人，下面鏤空，小汽車在其“肚子”下可自由穿行。
據僅有小學畢業而擁有多項發明的“立體快巴”發明人宋有洲介紹：每輛“立體快巴”分為4節，每節長10米。車體底層高度為2.2米，總高度4.4~4.5米，車身“增肥”至兩條車道寬，這樣車體下麵空間就能並行兩輛小汽車，「快巴其實就是空中“劈腿”的小地鐵或者輕軌」。
“立體快巴”行駛速度每小時約60至80公里，較一般公交快。它可與設在路邊的公交站或天橋對接，無論是直行、停站，都不會影響底下汽車的通過。

載客 每輛容納1000餘人
據介紹，“立體快巴”最高時速60公里，每輛一次可載客1200-1400人，按40輛40公里線路往返計算，綜合載人數量是普通公交大巴的幾十倍。

成本為地鐵十分之一
這種零排放的“立體快巴”每公里造價約5000萬元人民幣，較地鐵每公里造價5億至8億低了九成，一年可建40公里，而建同樣里程的地鐵則需3年。
“最為重要的是，快巴比地鐵和輕軌靈活。”據介紹，快巴的車廂是可以卸載的，在非高峰期，可以只開一節或者兩節車廂，發車間隔時間也可以自由調整。

驅動 採用太陽能和電能
宋有洲介紹，“立體快巴”採用太陽能和電力驅動，利用超級電容實現快速充電。
為了讓充電方便，沿途還設置了充電樁，車輛行駛時只要接觸就能充上電。而月臺頂部則全部採用太陽能光伏板，也供快巴停靠站時充電，減少空氣污染及碳排放。此外，夜間不使用時，“立體快巴”可停泊在車站，不需另佔停車場，也不影響下方車輛繼續通過。據估算“立體快巴”可以減少20%至30%的路面交通擁堵。