If you’ve ever been surfing through random videos on Facebook or another social media site you’ve probably seen the concept video of that Chinese train/bus hybrid thing that can travel over cars (and over traffic).
But that was just a rendered concept. And, like me, you probably thought that even though it was an amazing idea, it would never actually move past the idea stage.
But China’s proved us wrong.
Today China Xinhua News said that the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) is not only a real thing, but had its first road test today. It happened in Qinhuangdao City, and consisted of a brake and power consumption test.
The whole thing is powered by electricity, is about 72 feet long and 25 feet wide (so it can span multiple lanes of traffic) and can carry 300 passengers (but future versions could probably be coupled together to carry even more). And, when it’s actually launched and operating, it should hit max speeds of around 40 miles per hour, making it a pretty speedy mode of public transportation.
While this version still isn’t ready for mainstream daily use, it’s pretty amazing to see China actually turn this thing into a reality. And, other countries like Brazil, France, India and Indonesia have reached out about potentially licensing their own versions of the TEB.
You can check out a few videos from the unveiling/testing ceremony here.
