Elevated Bus Maker Hopes To Raise Interest in U.S.

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Americans may literally be driving under the bus if a new San Gabriel Valley company gets its way.

The Chinese inventor of something called the “straddling bus” – a highly publicized vehicle operating like a train on wheels high enough to allow cars to pass underneath – has formed a company to construct the contraption in the United States.

Inventor Song Youzhou, of Shenzhen, believes that the futuristic bus could get its first use in the United State, reducing traffic on busy thoroughfares in downtown Los Angeles and the Las Vegas strip.

“We believe U.S. manufacturers would do better than in any other country,” said Mark Shieh, a spokesman for U.S. Elevated High-Speed Bus Group Inc., formed last month in Rowland Heights. “If we manufacture it here, it will be easy to ship.”

The newfangled vehicle has received lots of attention in the press since Youzhou unveiled its design at a commercial transportation show in Beijing earlier this year.

Shaped like a giant upside down “U,” the elevated bus can theoretically carry as many as 300 passengers high above street level while traveling on rails or special painted guidelines. The vehicle would travel about 25 miles per hour and straddles two lanes. With its underside 18 feet high, cars could pass underneath its passenger compartment.

The bus is being touted as a way to reduce traffic congestion by up to 30 percent, and significantly reduce carbon emissions by running on electric and solar power.

Designers would like to manufacture the bus in Southern California, Shieh said, because of the region’s close ties to China, its proximity to major shipping routes and the United States’ reputation for safety.

“The word ‘revolutionary’ is so overused but this new bus actually is revolutionary,” he said, adding that a prototype of the new vehicle is under construction in China.

Not everyone, however, is convinced.

“I don’t want to knock anything that could be beneficial, but this isn’t the solution at least for a number of years,” said transportation consultant Jeffrey S. Trust, a former operations analyst at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.

James Moore, director of the transportation engineering program at USC, agreed.

“I haven’t examined this vehicle, but I can anticipate that there would be some problems with geometries on U.S. highways,” he said. “Every once in a while you’ll see a two-deck bus in England with its second deck on the ground because the driver forgot there was a bridge.”

Rail Revamp

The Port of Los Angeles has received a $16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand and improve its West Basin Railyard, an intermodal facility connecting dockside rails to the Alameda Corridor leading to downtown.

Along with more than $100 million already received from other port, state and local sources, the grant will help complete a major overhaul. It will add short-line rails, staging areas and storage tracks to the rail yard at the port’s north end near the China Shipping and TrePac terminals.

“This will maximize the use of our rail yard assets,” said Phillip Sanfield, spokesman for the port. He described the West Basin Railyard as a “critical link” between both Southern California ports and the Alameda Corridor, a rail line utilized by about 15 percent of all containers that pass through the L.A. port.

The project will allow increased use of the port’s on-dock rail facilities thereby eliminating about 2,300 daily truck trips, and significantly reducing pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

Construction is expected to begin early next year, with completion slated for late 2013.

“This is a very important aspect of port operations,” Sanfield said. “We need to do this to stay competitive.”

Aviation Acquisition

TWC Aviation, an aircraft charter company based at Van Nuys Airport, has announced it is acquiring San Jose-based aircraft charter company ACM Aviation.

“This is an important next step in our long-term expansion strategy,” said TWC President Andrew Richmond in a statement. “We expect a smooth integration over the months to come.”

When the deal closes, expected by the end of the year, the combined company will have 22 operating bases in the United States and overseas, and one of the largest private aircraft fleets in the world.

A company spokesman declined to provide further details.

Staff reporter David Haldane can be reached at [email protected] or at 323-549-5225, ext. 225.

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