What do you get when you cross a bus with a train? A dual-mode vehicle that has the versatility of a bus, the speed of light rail and fuel economy vastly better than either.
Toyota and its truck-making subsidiary Hino Motors have signed on with Japan Rail Hokkaido to develop the vehicles, which carry 25 people and reportedly burn one-fourth the amount of diesel fuel required by conventional buses. Japan Rail started testing them about 18 months ago, and bringing Toyota aboard could speed up development and commercialization of what may be the mass transit vehicle of the future. More here.
Everything old is new again..... this is a streetcar, or a trolley, depending on what part of the country you're from!
ReplyDeleteI thought that, unlike this vehicle, streetcars and trolleys needed tracks.. could be wrong though?
ReplyDeleteAren't those tracks underneath there? Either way, the thing is limited to its cement lines/tracks, right? That's what I meant....
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