中国立体巴铁上路测试 可行性遭质疑

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——如果在不远的未来，当你在一个中国城市开车时，你的车被吞进一个黑暗、嗡嗡作响的金属肚子，不要惊慌。虽然那可能让人觉得像是被外星人绑架了，但也可能只不过是一辆横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月份在北京的一个博览会上亮相时，如此高大长的、几乎漂浮在拥堵道路上方的大型巴士的想法，似乎有点超现实。但本周，当一个车辆的雏形出现在中国北方海滨城市秦皇岛时，这个想法已经向现实迈近了一步。

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.

这种被称为“巨型高架巴士”车辆的制造商宣布，周二在街头进行的几百米测试很成功，但测试的可控条件很难反映出中国交通堵塞的不可预测性。电视新闻显示，该大型车像一个巨大的虫子，沿着轨道缓缓向前移动，它的肚子下面待着两辆小汽车。

“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.

“我想强调的是，这测试是正式地给（人们）看这巴铁，他的流程（是）完全可能的，可以走起来，”立体快巴的设计师宋有洲从秦皇岛接受电话采访时说。

“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.

宋有洲说，“我们在测试、实验巴铁的各种功能，比如启动，刹车，其他的流程，如果有没有问题，都可以走得起来。”但是，一次完整的试运行至少要到明年年中后才将开始，他说。

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.

在支持者看来，浮在路上的巴士可以帮助解决令中国城市阻塞的交通问题。这辆样车长72英尺（约合22米），宽26英尺。最重要的是，它有16英尺高，下方会留出6英尺高的通道，车辆可以在巴士的车轮之间通行。乘客将浮在其他车辆上方，沿着轨道在专门建造的高架站台间高速行驶。

“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.

“巴铁的发明被认为是环境友好型公共交通的一项革命，”这种巴士的制造商巴铁科技发展有限公司(TEB Technology)在其英文网站上写道。

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

“从此不再有交通拥堵，”该公司乐观地表示。

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

但怀疑者表示，巴铁是解决一个问题但有可能制造更大问题的极佳例子。

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?

周二进行首次试运行之后，中国的网络上充满了质疑之声。这种车怎么转弯？对那些突然并线的司机怎么办？卡车之类体积太大无法在巴士下方通行的车辆又该如何？

“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’利用既有城市道路设施的想法很可能是一厢情愿，”《北京日报》今年6月如此评论这种创意，“可实施性很差。”

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

它指出，这种体型巨大的巴士将无法通过北京的立交桥。

“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’开行在一般城市道路上，也需要特殊的地基处理，否则用不了多久，城市道路必定被碾压得千疮百孔，”该报道中写道。

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，整辆巴士会有4节相连的车厢，能搭乘1200名乘客，这也许会让上下客本身成为一种挑战。宋有洲还提到，巴士在大的十字路口转弯不存在问题。巴士转弯时，下方的车辆会停下来等待。

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

“巴铁下面的红绿灯会配合路上的红绿灯，警告下面的车，”他说。

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.

就算是已经习惯于中国道路混乱状况的司机，或许也会对在一辆有红绿灯闪烁的大巴下行驶的念头感到不安。

“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.

“可能会给开车的人造成一定心理压力，”上海交通大学汽车研究院教授张建武上月接受《中国青年报》采访时说。

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

不过，宋有洲也说了一些话来缓解人们对这项新奇技术的担忧。

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

“我们暂时没法靠着无人驾驶技术，”他说。“一定要有人来开我们的巴铁。”