Can the Superbus revolutionize public transport?
As we're all well aware, magnetic-levitation (maglev) trains have come under fire recently for being unsafe at high speeds. There are other alternatives, however, for next generation public transportation that's both fast and environmentally friendly. The Superbus is a project for a futuristic public bus that runs on electricity (either batteries or fuel cells) and can reach speeds of 155 mph on dedicated "supertracks". It's the brainchild of designers and engineers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and has received €9 million in government funding and additional €1 million from local bus company, Connexxion.
The Superbus may look longer than a football field, but it's actually the same length and width as a normal city bus. It looks extra long because it's only 5.6 feet high, or about the height of an average SUV. That means that passengers can't stand up inside the Superbus, but they won't need to since each of its 30-some seats has an individual door.
Read more about the Superbus and see more pictures after the jump and click here to see a quick video of the project...
Thanks for the tip, Arthur!
[Source: TU Delft via Economist.com]
In order to make the Superbus a viable alternative to maglev trains, the engineers at Delft are also working on "supertracks" that they claim would be very easy to build into existing roadways and allow the bus to reach 155 mph while being piloted by computer. To make this possible, the bus would include sensors that scanned the road ahead up to 300 meters for dangerous objects and a suspension that memorized the roadway for changing conditions and particular bumps.
You wouldn't catch a ride to the bus station to hop on the Superbus, either. Developers plan to have the bus eschew traditional stops in favor of door-to-door deliveries via intelligent routing technology. Riders would be able to text-message the bus their location and have it meet them for pickup. Presumably a central computer would work out the most efficient route to pick up and drop off passengers that are constantly texting for transportation.
Currently the university is developing a working scale model of the Superbus, but the next major milestone will be the debut of a working prototype at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
icerabbit 9:50AM (10/10/2006)
The only problems with the idea are availability of a dedicated lane / road; road sharing in general outside of a major highway and practically all the speed bumps & plateaus everywhere. That design cannot handle any change in road elevation that's implemented to slow down traffic.
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Brian 10:17PM (10/09/2006)
Maglev trains under fire for being unsafe at high speeds? Mr. Neff, did you even read the link? Humans [mistakenly] told the train to collide with a massive truck at full speed.
Should we tear up all the highways in this country? I mean, humans [mistakenly] direct their cars to run into each other at full speed.
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sk 10:17PM (10/09/2006)
"As we're all well aware, magnetic-levitation (maglev) trains have come under fire recently for being unsafe at high speeds."
What does that statement has to do with the accident in Germany? There is nothing that would link this accident to an unsafe condition at high speeds. The accident occurred because of human error.
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Mr.Clever 11:34PM (10/10/2006)
"since each of its 30-some seats has an individual door."
#1)How would you tell if a person is already seated on a seat? Would you have to start opening doors til you found one disocuppied?
#2)NHTSA crash Rating for Side Impacts? Im guessing thats gonna be 60 airbags? (Not budget minded)
#3)30 Individual doors, its just not wise, not budget or profit minded, it wouldnt be easier/faster the whole in/out of the passenger.
#4)just WHY?
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Jeremy 10:59PM (10/09/2006)
"Can the Superbus revolutionize public transport?"
No.
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2009 Mustang 11:08PM (10/09/2006)
I guess the people who invented this thing don't understand the way a bus works. When you step on a bus you pay the driver, or put the money in a machine in the front of the bus. With that said, how do they expect the people to pay if they are expected to just get in one of the doors and sit down?
I don't really see how this is revolutionary... It looks to me like a limo.
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Corey W. 11:09PM (10/09/2006)
What's up with rail transportation in the U.S.? It's seems stagnate, where's the U.S. bullet trains...etc.
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Billy 11:12PM (10/09/2006)
A giant caterpillar?
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.T 11:16PM (10/09/2006)
Imagine the headache if those doors start breaking down. Or theres a recall on the hinges.
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Rick 11:17PM (10/09/2006)
The website you linked to looks like a middle schooler designed it and a business majow wrote it. I'd rather invest in a time traveling Delorean than this crap. How can a "superbus" travel safely at 150 MPH when some people and most accidents happen under 50? And don't get me started on the "radar that detects bumps in the road".
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doglet 11:30PM (10/09/2006)
i like the idea, its like a train but you end up much closer to your final destination than is possible with a train. it would only work with a dedicated highway.
its at least 50 years away if it happens at all but its an interesting idea.
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Steve2 11:53PM (10/09/2006)
Q: Can the Superbus revolutionize public transport?
A: No.
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Patrick 12:00AM (10/10/2006)
A giant caterpillar?..
No, its the Batmobus!
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MK 12:14AM (10/10/2006)
ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUS! 155 MPH on public roads driven by computer scanning 300 meters ahead??? On tracks, sorry; "Supertracks" that are "easily" laid? Excuse me if I'm wrong, but is Amsterdam part of the Netherlands? I think those Professors were passin' the bong when they pitched for all those Euros!
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tony2x 12:15AM (10/10/2006)
Great idea but I wouldn't get on one until it was at version three. :)
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iQuack 12:27AM (10/10/2006)
Maybe that bus or similar will exist in the future, but all of us--even the youngest here--will be dead by then.
No, in today's world you cannot buy a ticket, step into your own door, and enter your reserved, comfortable seat on this bus.
You must go the the airport and put up with all the lines, bag searches and and other crap and......well, you know what the drill is if you travel much.
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Chris 12:46AM (10/10/2006)
I would like to see where in the hell this bus could go 155mph, especially in Beijing. I spent a month in China and never saw a road where you could go over 45 mph. Beijing would need ALOT of 30 passenger buses to cater to it's 14 million residents. Also on that trip I was in Shanghai for a 2 weeks and just had to ride their maglev train to the airport. Very cool!
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Jay 1:11AM (10/10/2006)
2009 Mustang: I cant believe you. The payment method is the simplest thing to work out here. There are literally thousands of possibilities to solve this - in fact there are many places around the globe where tickets are not purchased this way.
- there could be a slot in each seat for a prepaid or debit card
- The mobile phone that is used to hail the bus could be used - i.e. the phone is used as a credit card device - this is already in use in some places.
or more futuristic:
- Bio-scanners could recognise a person and add the cost to their personal account
Or something even simpler (but less likely given the forward thinking of the rest of the bus): The passenger could walk past the window of the driver on the way to their seat - kinda like paying a taxi driver through their window before your ride.
Innovations happen by redefining boundaries, breaking down old barriers and thinking outside the box. You dont have to stick to old outdated methods. Try it.
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John 2:17AM (10/10/2006)
Maglevs unsafe due to recent developments? The Transrapid disaster had nothing to do with Maglev technology and everything to do track clearence issues. This can result in an accident on any railway. If a train has clearance to occupy a certain section of track when it is unsafe to do so, then you have an accident waiting to happen. Railways run on strict rules and complex signal systems that must be adhered to. Being an experimental private track, the Transrapid train did not have the normal automated safeties and computer controlled train protection a normal installation would have. The Maglev technology itself does not enter in to this. They were doing a sloppy job of running a railroad.
As for the SuperBus concept, it is very far flung indeed. Driverless transit vehicles are not new....they've existed in rail systems for over 20 years. High speed large capacity vehicles are nothing new. Dedicated right of way is nothing new.
Anything with an exclusive right of way is going to cost you big dollars. By making the routings very complex in promising door to door service, you make that investment even more extraordinary. Cutting out exclusive right of way and having the vehicles run in mixed traffic for stretches will reduce some capital cost, but you will also get a slower vehicle.
This idea is completely pie in the sky and will have no chance of ever working. It is a financial impossiblility on a capital front and the public's travel patterns are not condusive to making this work on an operational front either. By the time you water this down enough to make it practical....it will look like any other of the better run European transit systems that are already in place.
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GhostDoggy 5:37AM (10/10/2006)
This is more like Stupidbus. First, American highways and streets and roads are not designed for high-speed travel. Secondly, it looks expensive. Doesn't mean it is expensive, but just appearing so will invalidate it by most mass transit authorities. Maybe they mean a bus in the sense of a motorcoach (Greyhound) and not the city?
If someone can afford to build out several high-speed roadways between cities then why not make them railways and prevent other motorists from causing traffic jambs and congestion? Oh no, I asked the question.
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