Sci/Tech It's a Bus. It's a Train. It's Both!

[The Helper]

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.

Dual-mode vehicles have four rubber tires for road use and four steel wheels for the rails, and it takes less than 15 seconds to go from road to rail and back again. It drives just like a bus on the road, and a hydraulic system raises the tires and lowers the steel wheels as the driver guides the vehicle onto the tracks.

It's a Bus. It's a Train. It's Both!

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...

www.wired.com

 

[Lobster]

thats cool.

next they should make
part car, part plane
(flying cars ftw)

and they should make bumper cars for the road to make accidents les frequent

 

[ShadowTek]

I don't really understand the economical advantage, unless the problem is that there aren't enough streets where you live. These vehicles will weigh more, due to the fact that they have to carry around twice the drivetrain weight.

This may be more convenient for commuters, since you don't have to get onto one vehicle and onto another, and then back onto another. But I don't understand how using heavier vehicles can be more fuel-efficient.

 

[Lunarios]

Buses almost always have an economic advantage, simply because they transport more people with less.

Although the aerodynamic shape is rather interesting.

I'm not the most knowledgeable about cars, but the drive train is the power source that the wheels tap into, correct?

If you mean the actual weight of the wheels, then I don't have a solution for you there. Railroads seem to be more efficient, so the benefit of being able to use them obviously outweighs any cons that come about with having them. I don't know about you, but I consistently hear the statistic "Our railways transport 1 ton of freight (Double or Triple Digit number) miles on one gallon of fuel" on the radio.

 

[ShadowTek]

I'm not the most knowledgeable about cars, but the drive train is the power source that the wheels tap into, correct?

Yes, but am also referring to all components of the secondary drive system, including the 4 extra wheels.

If you mean the actual weight of the wheels, then I don't have a solution for you there. Railroads seem to be more efficient, so the benefit of being able to use them obviously outweighs any cons that come about with having them. I don't know about you, but I consistently hear the statistic "Our railways transport 1 ton of freight (Double or Triple Digit number) miles on one gallon of fuel" on the radio.

My point is: what would be the most fuel efficient solution? Having a city full of buses and commuter trains that weight as little as possible? Or having twice as many of these hybrid bus/trains that do the same jog but weight more?

I do think that these vehicles would be a great convenience to commuters, but I don't see the mathematical fuel advantage in this, considering that you're talking about using vehicles that are over-equipped/over-weight for individual tasks.