Engadget reports that the company behind this innovative solution, Shenzen Hashi Future Car-Parking Equipment Co. Ltd., will commence building its first 186 km of track in Beijing’s Mentougou District. Below is a demo video presented by Hashi’s Chairman Song Youzhou.

Translation is below the video, provided courtesy of China Hush.

Translation:

What you can see from the video is traffic jams, what you can hear is noise, and there is also invisible air pollution. At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.

The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.

Another strength of straddling bus is its short construction life cycle: only 1 year to build 40 km. Whereas building 40-km subway will take 3 years at best. Also the straddling bus will not need the large parking lot that normal buses demand. It can park at its own stop without affecting the passage of cars. This is what the interior looks like: it has huge skylight that will eliminate passengers’ sense of depression when enter.

There are two parts in building the straddling bus. One is remodeling the road, the other is building station platforms. Two ways to remodel the road: we can go with laying rails on both sides of car lane, which save 30% energy; or we can paint two white lines on both sides and use auto-pilot technology in the bus, which will follow the lines and run stable.

There are also two ways in dealing with station platform. One is to load/unload through the sides; the other is using the built-in ladder so that passengers can go up and to the overpass through the ceiling door.

Straddling bus is completely powered by municipal electricity and solar energy system. In terms of electricity, the setting is called relay direct current electrification. The bus itself is electrical conductor, two rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places.

The set here is super capacitor, a device that can charge, discharge and store electricity quickly. The power it stores during the stop can support the bus till the next stop where another round of charging takes place, achieving zero toxic gas throughout the process.

About the ultrasonic waves put forth from the end of the bus, that is to keep those high cars or trucks away from entering the tunnel. Using laser ray to scan, cars get too close to the passage will activate the alarm on the bus end. Inside the bus, there are turning lights that indicate a the bus is intending to make a turn to warn the cars inside. Also radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.

Nowadays many big cities have remodeled their traffic signaling system, to prioritize public buses, that is to say when a bus reaches a crossing, red light on the other side of the fork will turn on automatically to give buses the right of way. Our straddling bus can learn from this BRT method. The car can make the turn with the bus if that is the direction it wants to go too; if not, the red light will be on to stop the cars beneath while the bus take the turn.

The bus is 6 m in width and 4-4.5 m high. How will people get off the bus if an accident happens to such a huge bus? Here I introduce the most advanced escaping system in the world. In the case of fire or other emergencies, the escaping door will open automatically. I believe many of you have been on a plane. Planes are equipped with inflated ladder so people can slide down on it in emergency. I put the escaping concept into the straddling bus. It is the fastest way to escape.

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.

Thank you.

Here are five leads into top business opportunities for businesses seeking to position themselves along growth sectors in the Middle East:

1. Finance and Banking ICT & Software: The Arab banking sector will invest $1.8 Billion in information and communication technologies in 2008, a 15% increase from what they already spent in 2007. Arab banks boast one of the highest rates of growth in technology investment in the world (mainly because they got on the boat a little later than everyone else). Ofcourse, being a late adopter in this sector also means that Arab banks are being fitted with the latest technologies in the industry, giving them an edge compared to banks using archaic systems. Canada has 83 ICT companies that specialize in the Financial industry. Please, at least one of you should go down there and grab a contract or two!

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1. Sharia-Compliant Hospitality Products: Aha! Read that again. It’s not Sharia-compliant Banking. This time, a new Islamic trend is set to launch, and with it a new need for niche products. This May, Dubai-based Al-Mullah Properties will announce plans to invest $2 Billion to develop an Islamically-compliant hotel brand portfolio appealing to lifestyle travelers – both Muslim and non-Muslim. A new chain of up to 90 international hotels (branded as Cliftonwood, Adham and Wings) will operate with universal Islamic codes such as no alcohol and Halal food only. If you are a manufacturer/exporter of luxury and fine food products for the hospitality industry, now is the time to think about new product lines or re-branding existing products.

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1. Cement and Construction Materials/Technologies: Everyone knows it. Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world, with anywhere between 15 to 25% of the world’s cranes working constantly on its towers. The real estate boom in the UAE is about to face a crisis. Cement is on back log! Zawya.com reported that “Companies that provide ready-mix concrete have issued their clients notices that they are not in a position to supply more than 45 percent of the ready-mix orders. In some cases, ready-mix companies have even ceased production.” If any company has a solution, get on the next plane to Dubai and bring home some goat meat! (sorry, no bacon in UAE)

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1. Recycling and Industrial Waste Management Solutions: With all that construction comes much industrial waste. Lots of it. Recycling and Waste Management technologies have an open opportunity here. (Edit July 13 2008: This recommendation has been confirmed here).

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1. Oil, Oil, and Oil: Duh! Oil services are still in high demand. Better, cheaper extraction technologies. Maintenance services for older wells. Training services for labour localization initiatives. It’s all there. This week Bahrain announced plans to add 700 new oil wells to meet increasing energy demands. This summer, Yemen will award its first round of contracts for off-shore operations, prompting a scurry by local firms to find international partners who have much needed expertise in providing offshore services in a market that traditionally relied on on-shore production.

And there you have it. If you are a company that found this advice helpful and was able to capitalize on it in any way, shape, or form… congratulations! You are one of very few smart chicks who found a crack in the shell of Canadian reluctance and broke out successfully!

“The vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel’s design, not through a manufacturing flaw in China’s manufacturers,” Thomas Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice-president for worldwide operations, said at a meeting in the office of Li Changjiang, chief of China’s product quality assurance agency.

“We understand and appreciate deeply the issues that this has caused for the reputation of Chinese manufacturers.”

I am sure anti-outsourcing propagandists are not happy with the news. The Mattel recalls brought all critics of China out of the wood-work under the guise of ‘protecting public safety’.

In other news, while the kids’ Toys giant is dealing with outstanding financial repercussions due to their massive toy recalls, Mattel is also suing porn star Terri Gibson, known to her fans as ‘China Barbie’ of ChinaBarbie.com. Mattel is suing Terri for infringing on their trademark ‘Barbie’. The Asia Times has the juice on the lawsuit, as well as the NY Post.

The Italian fashion icon ‘Fendi’ announced that their next fashion show will be held on… the Great Wall of China! More details are available from Reuters.

I am not sure how many strings they had to pull for this one, but they are getting a lot of viral exposure simply from the choice of location. A Fendi fashion show in Milan or Paris wouldn’t draw any more chatter than is normal, but managing to get permission from Beijing for a show on the Great Wall? That’s worthy of mention in a few more newspapers. Great strategy for free exposure!

I am not sure if Fendi spent some time considering the brand association with the Wall of China. While the Great Wall is the largest human-made structure ever built, the ability to see it from the moon is more urban legend than truth. Does the Fendi brand want to evoke mental/emotional associations with the history and magnificence of the wall?

The show is scheduled for October 2007.

The video below is from Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2007-2008 Fashion Show in Milan a few months ago. In case you’re wondering about the soundtrack, the first song is called ”From Disco to Disco” by the German group Ladomat 2000.

Update: The video has been removed from YouTube. Instead, here is the actual footage of Fendi on the Great Wall of China. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphCD9a3o04

Personally, I prefer Versace’s 2006 F/W collection over Fendi’s upcoming one. Check it in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOJA5f_L-o

(As spotted on Trend Hunter)