Aug 5, 2010: China's Big Bus

[jinx]

Watch the tram car please.

[glatt]

I was assuming Sundae was talking about a streetcar that runs on rails in the road surface. That's what I'm talking about.

[Cloud]

do we have any of those? except for cable cars in SF? do cities on the east coast have them?

[Happy Monkey]

Not anymore, thanks to Judge Doom.

(Actually, Pittsburgh's "subway" goes on the roads here and there. There are probably a few more scattered about.)

[bbro]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

(Actually, Pittsburgh's "subway" goes on the roads here and there. There are probably a few more scattered about)

It's called the "T" and goes above ground in the suburbs and below ground in downtown - entering and emerging at the Station Square stop. I used to ride it quite a bit. Used to put me to sleep with the gentle swaying.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Cloud

do we have any of those? except for cable cars in SF? do cities on the east coast have them?

Some do. Baltimore does, DC is installing a line, and Arlington VA is going to put a line in. I think Boston has some too. There are probably others.

[Clodfobble]

Every 5 years or so, there's a big intiative to build a "light rail" system in Austin, but so far it's been voted down every time. Among other arguments, opponents are always pointing to the neverending construction boondoggle that was supposed to be light rail in Dallas, but to my knowledge still isn't operable after more than a decade.

[glatt]

I think it was stupid to rip the streetcar rails out in the first place and I think it's pretty silly to go through the bother to reinstall them again. The only good thing about streetcars over buses is that they are viewed as upscale. Admittedly, they run on electricity so they don't add to smog in the city center, but many buses run on natural gas, which is also very clean.

Buses are cheaper, and more flexible. If populations shift, you can drive the bus to a different neighborhood. Changing bus routes is easy. With rails, you are stuck literally in a rut. You can't drive around traffic jams. If some jerk in a car is outside of his lane and is blocking the track just by an inch or two, you have to just sit there and wait for him to move.

[sweetwater]

I wonder if an even taller straddle-bus could share the rails with the proposed one shown here. That way the buses could run simultaneously, in opposite directions, and still only use one bus worth of road. (It's my nature to keep improving things until they break.)

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Cloud

what are "trams" as you use that term? electric buses that run on overhead cables?

Originally Posted by glatt

I was assuming Sundae was talking about a streetcar that runs on rails in the road surface. That's what I'm talking about.

Originally Posted by glatt

Some do. Baltimore does, DC is installing a line, and Arlington VA is going to put a line in. I think Boston has some too. There are probably others.

SLUT!

Unfortunate, funny, and true.

"We're welcoming the SLUT into the neighborhood," said Jerry Johnson, 29, a part-time barista. Johnson said the T-shirts were done just for fun, but they seem to have tapped into something: The first 100 sold out in days and now orders for the next 100 are under way.

That bus better be made out of Kryptonite. I spent a few months in Shanghai - I think the buses will get a shit kicking. Actually, despite the image that is always portrayed on the web I found Chinese drivers very laid back with a "no worries" attitude. I was in a cab once which grazed another vehicle & destroyed the driver's side mirror. Neither driver stopped and our driver didn't even look over at the other car. Now that's laid back.

[ZenGum]

Clever idea, but I wonder about accidents etc.


What they need is a ...



Monorail! monorail monorail monorail MONORAIL!

[SPUCK]

Originally Posted by Nikolai

Loves Spucks video especially at 2:02 she nudges him over with her car made me chuckle. Was also noticing a lack of decent lines on the roads or traffic lights.

I like the people who are just standing there when the little vehicle backs over them all like bowling pins.

[casimendocina]

You could say that the Chinese have a somewhat "organic" approach to driving. Everything just sort of flows...(here I'm building on the '"adventurous" but in a laid back sort of way' driving style theme.