Local Editor

Engineers have finally completed a full-scale moving mock-up of China's wacky transport idea, the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), a large straddling bus that allows cars to drive underneath it.

The prototype was unveiled on Tuesday in Hebei province's Qinhuangdao city.

The TEB is about 22-metres (72.2-feet) long, 7.8-metres (25.3-feet) wide, and 4.8-metres (15.8-feet) tall. It can pack up to 300 passengers, but underneath, multiple cars less than 2-metres (6.6-feet) tall can drive under the TEB.

The TEB crawled rather slowly at the short 300-metre demo track, but engineers brushed it off because it was more a proof of concept than a technical test run.

Song You Zhou, chief engineer, said the team behind the TEB plans to make the vehicle commercially available within a year to a year and a half.

The TEB could be a cost-effective way solve traffic congestion because it can carry hundreds of passengers at a time, without disrupting the regular flow of vehicles underneath.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team