Bus

When you picture a bus, you see this

not this

In an effort to go green and relieve congestion without widening roads, the Shenzhen Huashi Future ParkingEquipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach" (also known as a "three-dimensional fast bus" or "straddling bus")

The 6-meter-wide 3D Express Coach will be powered by a combination of electricity and solar energy, and will be able to travel up to 60 kilometers per hour carrying some 1200 to 1400 passengers.

The first 115 miles of track is set for construction in Beijing's Mentougou district starting in late 2010. The Chairman of the Huashi Future Parking Equipment company boasts it will take only a year and 500 million yuan (around $73 million).

A view from under one of the road-straddling buses. Cars less than 2 meters high will be able to pass underneath these giant buses. A radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.

Passengers will board the buses at large above-ground loading stations.