A series of high-profile arrests has revealed that the innovative straddling bus concept unveiled in China back in 2010 was, after all, just a huge scam.
Marketed as the solution to China’s growing traffic problems, the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) was designed as a simple, yet elegant people-mover that could hold up to 1,200 people at a time in its 72 feet long, 16 feet high arch shaped structure.
Shortly after the much-celebrated launch of the test vehicle in August 2016 on a specially built track in the port city of Qinhuangdao, doubts were raised both by the state media and international media house CNN on the feasibility and legibility of the project.
The doubts intensified after local news reports in December last year revealed that the funding of the project had stopped. This was because the founders had run into financial trouble after promising returns of up to 12% to their investors through the country’s unregulated peer-to-peer credit system.
In early April, Southern Metropolis Daily reported that 72 different suits had been filed against the TEB company on charges of shamming the stakeholders and that the Beijing Police had opened a fast-track investigation into the scam. This culminated in the arrests of 32 people in the top brass of the company and Huaying Kailai, the online crowd-sourcing platform that TEB used to raise some funds.
Also Read: Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) begins testing in China, runs 6.5 feet above the ground
Until very recently, the concept bus lay idle on the special test track which was supposed to be dismantled by the company by September last year. It was in fact, a nuisance to the traffic, with vehicles having to change lanes to avoid the tracks and the bus itself and was subsequently shifted to warehouses by the local authorities.
Experts, however, had been doubtful of the technical feasibility of the project from an early stage. Popular Mechanics reported, “The height of the model presents even more problems. The maximum height of vehicles on the road in China is 4.2 to 4.5 meters, but the TEB only can accommodate vehicles that are 2.1 meters tall. Furthermore, it’s unclear how the vehicle would turn or evade stoplights.“
Fortune added, “At 16 feet high, and 26 feet wide, the bus seemed liable to tip over. The prototype was too high to pass underneath most urban bridges. Critics questioned whether it would be able to bear the weight of its passengers.”
Images courtesy: New China