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China has unveiled plans for its newest transport offering to the world: an all-in-one bus, train and tram.
Dubbed “smart buses”, the new Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) vehicles can be adjusted to increase or decrease carriage length and run on a special “virtual track” made up of white lines and controlled by hundreds of sensors.
Each route is pre-programmed meaning they won’t require a driver, and the lack of need for traditional track means the buses will be far cheaper to roll out for public use than for ordinary trains.
Feng Jianghua, chief engineer of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Company Limited, said each kilometre of metro costs around 400 million – 700 million yuan (£45.5 million – £79.6 million) to build, compared with a standard-length ART bus, which costs around 15 million yuan (£1.7 million), or even less.
The 30-metre long bus will be able to fit 300 passengers across three carriages, or as many as 500 passengers for a five-carriage bus.
Chinese State press reports that a 6.5-kilometre ART route will be built through downtown Zhuzhou, with operations expected to start in 2018.
