It was all just hype: China’s ‘straddling bus’ dream reaches end of the line with test site to be dismantled
Hit by feasibility and financing questions, the Transit Elevated Bus will go from being hailed as the future of public transportation to a failed idea
China’s controversial “straddling bus” – the elevated vehicle that cruises over the tops of cars – has abruptly come to the end of the road.
Workers have begun dismantling the test site for the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), a futuristic hollow-bellied bus-train hybrid which stands two metres above the road, and will demolish it by the end of the month, according to the state-run China News Service.
The widely-hyped vehicle in the city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei province went through trial runs on its 300-metre test track last year from August to October. But less than a year after its debut, the giant vehicle – which is now covered in dust – will be moved to a nearby parking lot for next steps, an unnamed local official was quoted as saying.
A worker at the site told China News Service they believe the contract between the developer and the local government will expire in July, and that a contract renewal has been rejected. The local government did not publicly comment.
Despite being hailed as the “future of public transportation” and a solution to air pollution, the TEB’s trial process was dogged by difficulties and controversies.