The straddling bus - or the dragon bus as I'm renaming it - certainly solves some transportation problems as they're framed and makes better use of existing infrastructure. However, this is no human scale, small-planet solution. While less expensive than subways, cities designed for biking and walking would be vastly cheaper and more green than sprawling cities made more accessible by exotic public transportation fixes. Not to mention how intimidating it would be for drivers to be swallowed by "the dragon." I have a question mark by this innovation. What do you think?
Comments
Kelly McCartney wrote on 08.21.10, 12:51pm:
I get the concept, in terms of essentially taking the traditional buses out of the traffic flow and adding an electric/solar power combination to the mix. It certainly moves us one step closer to the Jetsons.
While I agree that walking and biking are the ultimate doubly rich solutions (because they also get people to be more active), some places just aren't suited to those modes. This could be a decent, technology-driven remedy for places like Los Angeles.
This proposal leaves me quite puzzled as to what problem it is supposed to solve. Essentially, I suppose it's supposed to reduce congestion on the road by keeping a bunch of cars closer together. But it does so at the cost of moving even more dead weight per passenger than cars already do - meaning that there's got to be more wastage of energy.
The most efficient forms of transport weigh less than the persons or goods they transport, e.g., a bicycle or a fully loaded truck. This is not it!
Wolfgang