While everyone has been busy drooling over the Airbus landing and other big airplanes, this story kinda flew under the radar. China recently unveiled the world’s largest bus, a rolling behemoth with a capacity of 300 passengers. Intended for service in Beijing and Hangzhou, the 82-foot-long Superliner is a whopping 42 feet longer than an ordinary bus.
Amazingly, the bus:
- requires 35 steps to walk from front to back;
- has five doors;
- really doesn’t have duct tape holding it together, despite appearances;
- has 40 seats;
- is wheelchair accessible;
- can reach speeds of up to 51 miles per hour;
- is, according to one bus driver, “flexible when cornering.”
The Superliner will be allowed to use special bus-only lanes on the highways; it will also make fewer stops so it can pass through the city more quickly. No doubt eager bus drivers will create special competitions for the monster, e.g., who can parallel park it without running over the fire hydrant. If you’re interested, Shanghaist has a neat photo gallery of the liner.
[Via World Hum]