China's Transit Elavated Bus (TEB) out for test.

Getting thrown under the bus has a new meaning in China, where a new bus straddles traffic, literally rising above traffic jams while cars drive underneath.

Yesterday, China’s innovative traffic-straddling bus concept began public testing, bringing the project one step closer to becoming a viable form of mass transit. Spearheaded by TEB Technology Development Company, China Xinhua News reports,  the first TEB-1, or Transit Elevated Bus, made its maiden voyage on the city streets of Qinhuangdao in China’s Hebei province. And thanks to Shanghaiist.

According to the New York Times, each TEB will cost approximately $4.5 million to build, or almost one-sixteenth the price of a subway train. In addition to Qinhuangdao, four other Chinese cities have signed on for the state-of-the-art bus already.

At 25 feet wide, the bus allows cars as tall as 7.2 feet (86.4 inches) to travel underneath it while its passengers are carried to and from elevated stops. The Times adds that the bus is designed to meet various zoning and height restrictions in each city that’s commissioned it so far. Furthermore, guardrails between the TEB’s tracks and the car lanes beneath it have been proposed as a means of preventing accidents, as well as saving the bus from damage.while  the TEB is very much a real thing, it will be a while before it becomes a scalable form of mass transportation. But clearly, its prospects are looking up.

source: Car and drive