Whether it is Volvo’s self-driving refuse vans or Uber’s self-driving delivery trucks, the technology is surely heading to take over every vehicle known to man. Here’s a prime example of that coming from China, as their engineers have created a new type of vehicle to introduce new realms into the world of self-driving technology.
Chinese Rail transit company CRRC has created an Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) that is a cross between a train and a bus. The ART looks like a train due to the length of the design but rolls around on the roads like a bus or more aptly a tram running on specific paths. The vehicle is modular with the capacity to add or remove carriages according to the number of passengers, which can go over 300 at a time.
And of course, the ART is completely autonomous and can run without any human intervention. For now, ART does have a stand-in driver for safety reasons as they test the train/bus’ ability to run on a pair of white lines painted on the roads and use its host of sensors for avoiding obstacles.
The magical attributes of ART don’t end here, as the vehicle is also completely electric and can run for 30 km on a 10-minute charge at a top speed of 70 kph. The entire vehicle costs as much as a bus and is a perfect fix for cities which can’t afford subways or tram tracks. The first ART line is expected to be completed by 2018 in the city of Zhuzhou.
Comment below on what do you think about the concept, and can someone please suggest a name for this?