Transit Elevated Bus

The Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) () was a proposed new bus concept where a guided bus straddles above road traffic, giving it the alternative names such as straddling bus, straddle bus, land airbus, or tunnel bus by international media. A trial was scheduled to begin in Beijing's Mentougou District by late 2010. However the project was not given authorization by the district authorities because the technology was considered to be too immature, and further trials were subject to the development of a concept to prove the system actually works. The city of Manaus, Brazil, has also evaluated the option of installing a straddle bus in its city streets. At the time of the 2016 unveiling of the scale model, it was reported that a prototype would be deployed by mid 2016 in Qinhuangdao. Four other Chinese cities, Nanyang, Shenyang, Tianjin, and Zhoukou, had also signed contracts for pilot projects involving the construction of test tracks beginning in 2016. However a test of a prototype design was scrapped in June 2017 over concerns about its viability. In July 2017, 32 people involved into the project were detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of investment fraud. The prototype bus was removed from the test track in early July. The idea of Transit Elevated Bus was proposed in 1969 by two American architects, Craig Hodgetts and Lester Walker, as a public transport concept called the "Bos-Wash Landliner". Later, another version was designed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Company (深圳華世未來泊車設備有限公司), and the concept, known as 3D Express Bus (立体快巴) at the time, was unveiled at the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May 2010. A working scale model was showcased at the 2016 Beijing International High-Tech Expo. In China there are four main modes of public transportation: subway, light rail, bus rapid transit (BRT), and normal buses. The express coach would be a substitute for BRT and augment its advantages.