Thursday, August 29, 2013

"Straddling Bus" Could Reduce Traffic Jams, Improve Air Quality

This is so cool. So say you need to get more people places, but you don't want to put more cars on the road. And while public transit is always encouraged, buses in high traffic areas can snarl traffic with their stops and have a negative impact on air quality.

This is the dilemma China is facing now. They think they've found a solution though, with something called the "straddling bus," a cheaper, greener and faster alternative to buses and subways.

The bus is cool in that it is basically like a moving bridge; it spans the roadway like a bridge, allowing cars to go underneath, while passengers sit on the second level above the traffic. This keeps traffic from jamming up traffic every time the bus stops to pick up or drop off riders.

Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 40 miles an hour carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles’ way. Also it costs about 10% of what it would cost to build a subway. Watch the video- pretty impressive.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.