中國立體巴鐵上路測試 可行性遭質疑

BEIJING — If you’re driving in a Chinese city in the none-too-distant future and your car is engulfed in a dark, humming metallic belly, don’t panic. It may feel like an alien abduction, but probably it’s only a colossal, street-straddling bus.

北京——如果在不遠的未來，當你在一箇中國城市開車時，你的車被吞進一個黑暗、嗡嗡作響的金屬肚子，不要驚慌。雖然那可能讓人覺得像是被外星人綁架了，但也可能只不過是一輛橫跨大街之上的巨型巴士。

The idea of a bus so large, high and long that it could virtually levitate above congested streets seemed surreal when presented at an expo in Beijing in May. But it came a step closer to reality this week, when a prototype went for an experimental spin in Qinhuangdao, a seaside city in northern China.

5月份在北京的一個博覽會上亮相時，如此高大長的、幾乎漂浮在擁堵道路上方的大型巴士的想法，似乎有點超現實。但本週，當一個車輛的雛形出現在中國北方海濱城市秦皇島時，這個想法已經向現實邁近了一步。

The makers of the vehicle, known as the Transit Elevated Bus, declared the ride down a few hundred yards of street on Tuesday a success, but the controlled conditions hardly reflected the gnarled unpredictability of Chinese traffic. Television news showed the bus, resembling a goliath bug, edging forward down tracks while two cars nestled underneath.

這種被稱爲“巨型高架巴士”車輛的製造商宣佈，週二在街頭進行的幾百米測試很成功，但測試的可控條件很難反映出中國交通堵塞的不可預測性。電視新聞顯示，該大型車像一個巨大的蟲子，沿着軌道緩緩向前移動，它的肚子下面待着兩輛小汽車。

“I wanted to officially show people that this is entirely possible and that the bus can be up and running,” Song Youzhou, the designer of the straddling bus, said in a telephone interview from Qinhuangdao.

“我想強調的是，這測試是正式地給（人們）看這巴鐵，他的流程（是）完全可能的，可以走起來，”立體快巴的設計師宋有洲從秦皇島接受電話採訪時說。

“We were inspecting and testing the vehicle for a range of functions, like ignition, braking and other processes, to see if they all work together and there are no problems,” Mr. Song said. But a full trial run will not take place until the middle of next year, he said.

宋有洲說，“我們在測試、實驗巴鐵的各種功能，比如啓動，剎車，其他的流程，如果有沒有問題，都可以走得起來。”但是，一次完整的試運行至少要到明年年中後纔將開始，他說。

To supporters, floating buses offer a solution to the traffic that chokes China’s cities. The prototype is 72 feet long and 26 feet wide. Most important, it is 16 feet high, leaving a tunnel more than 6 feet high between the wheels for cars. Commuters will be able to float above the cars, whisked on rails from one specially built elevated stop to another.

在支持者看來，浮在路上的巴士可以幫助解決令中國城市阻塞的交通問題。這輛樣車長72英尺（約合22米），寬26英尺。最重要的是，它有16英尺高，下方會留出6英尺高的通道，車輛可以在巴士的車輪之間通行。乘客將浮在其他車輛上方，沿着軌道在專門建造的高架站臺間高速行駛。

“The invention of the Transit Elevated Bus is considered as a revolution for the environment-friendly public transportation,” the maker of the bus, TEB Technology, says on its website.

“巴鐵的發明被認爲是環境友好型公共交通的一項革命，”這種巴士的製造商巴鐵科技發展有限公司(TEB Technology)在其英文網站上寫道。

“No more traffic jams,” it says with some optimism.

“從此不再有交通擁堵，”該公司樂觀地表示。

But skeptics say the bus is a magnificent example of a solution to a problem that is likely to create yet more problems.

但懷疑者表示，巴鐵是解決一個問題但有可能製造更大問題的極佳例子。

After the trial run on Tuesday, China’s internet filled with questions. How would the bus negotiate turns? What about the many drivers who jump in and out of lanes? And what about vehicles like trucks that are too large to fit under the bus?

週二進行首次試運行之後，中國的網絡上充滿了質疑之聲。這種車怎麼轉彎？對那些突然併線的司機怎麼辦？卡車之類體積太大無法在巴士下方通行的車輛又該如何？

“It might be a fantasy to deploy the ‘elevated bus’ on existing urban road infrastructure,” Beijing Daily said about the idea in June. “It’s very impractical.”

“‘空中巴士’利用既有城市道路設施的想法很可能是一廂情願，”《北京日報》今年6月如此評論這種創意，“可實施性很差。”

It noted that the giant buses would not be able to use the bridges and overpasses in the capital city.

它指出，這種體型巨大的巴士將無法通過北京的立交橋。

“Even if the ‘elevated bus’ is deployed on ordinary urban roadways, it will need special groundwork, otherwise the roads will be crushed to smithereens before long,” the paper said.

“即使‘空中巴士’開行在一般城市道路上，也需要特殊的地基處理，否則用不了多久，城市道路必定被碾壓得千瘡百孔，”該報道中寫道。

Mr. Song said that a full bus would have four connected carriages and be able to carry 1,200 passengers, which may make getting on and off an adventure in itself. Turning at broad intersections would not pose a problem, Mr. Song added. The cars underneath the bus would come to a stop and wait while the bus curved the corner.

宋有洲表示，整輛巴士會有4節相連的車廂，能搭乘1200名乘客，這也許會讓上下客本身成爲一種挑戰。宋有洲還提到，巴士在大的十字路口轉彎不存在問題。巴士轉彎時，下方的車輛會停下來等待。

“Underneath the bus, traffic lights will be coordinated with the traffic lights on the road so that cars are notified,” he said.

“巴鐵下面的紅綠燈會配合路上的紅綠燈，警告下面的車，”他說。

Even drivers hardened to the mayhem on China’s roads might be unsettled by the idea of sitting under a bus while red and green lights flash.

就算是已經習慣於中國道路混亂狀況的司機，或許也會對在一輛有紅綠燈閃爍的大巴下行駛的念頭感到不安。

“This may create some psychological pressure for motorists,” Zhang Jianwu, a professor at the Institute of Automotive Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University, told China Youth Daily last month.

“可能會給開車的人造成一定心理壓力，”上海交通大學汽車研究院教授張建武上月接受《中國青年報》採訪時說。

But Mr. Song had something to reassure people worried about the newfangled technology.

不過，宋有洲也說了一些話來緩解人們對這項新奇技術的擔憂。

“At the moment, we can’t use driverless technology on the bus,” he said. “We have to have humans at the wheel.”

“我們暫時沒法靠着無人駕駛技術，”他說。“一定要有人來開我們的巴鐵。”