China has built a 3D Express Coach which lets vehicles drive underneath and will cut traffic jams by 30 per cent, its designers claim, reports The Daily Mail.
The design is for an electric bus that is almost 15 feet high and solar-powered. It will be able to travel at speeds of up to 37mph but will be able to carry as many as 1400 passengers at one time.
Unveiled at the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May, the design firm behind it say that it will reduce traffic jams by up to 30 per cent.
While it will cost 500 million yuan (4.6 million) to build the bus and the tracks along which it will run, the firm claims this is only 10 per per cent of the cost of an equivalent subway system.
Song Youzhou, chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment, gave a presentation on the '3D Express Coach' at the Expo and said that any cars that drove too close to the bus would automatically set off an alarm.
Cars driving underneath the bus' arch would be warned as they drive when it was about to make a turn.
Radar scanners inside the bus would also warn cars if they were driving to close to the bus' wheels.
The 3D bus would use an inflatable escape ladder similar to on passenger aircraft in the case of emergencies, Mr Youzhou said.
A pilot scheme for the bus will take place in Beijing's Mentougou District, with construction on the first 186km of track due to begin at the end of this year.
