These giant 'straddling' buses might be coming to Shanghai

It looks like it could be an April fool, but production officially started on 'straddling' or 'tunnel' buses in Changzhou this week, according to Chinese media reports. The buses, which are designed to cruise the streets while passing over the top of two lanes of normal traffic, will feature four passenger rooms with a total of 55 seats, it was announced at a ceremony in Jiangsu.

Looking a bit like a robotic road-top Pacman gobbling up commuters' cars, it's hoped that the Transit Explore Bus (TEB) will ease congestion in China's major cities. As the country has become the world's biggest car market, traffic jams have become a regular feature of China's main urban areas. The issue made international headlines in the summer of 2010 when thousands of vehicles were trapped in a 100km-long traffic jam for around ten days in Hebei.

While the TEBs' external appearance may take a bit of getting used to, the interiors look spacious and comfortable.

It's not clear exactly which cities will be the first to feature TEBs on their roads, but given Changzhou's close proximity to Shanghai our city may well be a candidate for their early roll out. While we can see a few problems (and lots of honking) emerging from the slight issue that the TEBs don't seem designed to be able to pass over the top of pick up trucks or anything much bigger than your average SUV, anything that can ease the city's traffic jams has to be a good thing.