Gargantuan Bus (Largest in World) Transports 256 Passengers

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The macdaddy of buses has hit the scene. Meet the AutoTram Extra Grand: a 98-foot, 256 passenger carrier. The bus, which concept developer Fraunhofer IVI hails as the largest bus in the world, has some green features, including a battery storage system that enables all-electric operation for up to 8 kilometers.

The prototype of the beastly bus is expected to be tested in Dresden in late 2012.

Source: inhabitat
Image: Courtesy of Fraunhofer IVI

Chelsea (171 Posts)

Chelsea is a former newspaper reporter who has spent the past few years teaching English in Poland, Finland and Japan. When she wasn't teaching or writing, Chelsea was traveling Europe and Asia, sampling spicy street food along the way.


  • Bob_Wallace

    OK, ‘splain to me why this is a good idea.

    Two less drivers. Some drafting advantages by having “three buses” follow each other with inches between.

    This thing is not going to get used in cities. Guaranteed gridlock.

    If it runs pick up/drop off routes then the frequency of buses will drop and crowds waiting for the bus will block sidewalks. The bus stop is going to eat up a lot of space.

    It’s likely to be a friggin’ problem on highways – if you have had the experience of trying to get around a string of 18-wheelers and a “I don’t drive 65″ driver in the passing lane.

    Come on, Chelsea, do some reporting. Dig deeper. More than a spicy taste, please. A nice filling meal. Some kaeng khiao wan and khao niew along with the satay.

    • http://twitter.com/pestfisch Peter Staudt

      Maybe the question is not how large the bus stop is, but how much space is eaten up by 256 parking lots and 256 cars on the road? Just a slight change of perspective will reveal the advantages of public transport. If buses like this one make it more efficient, why not?

      • Bob_Wallace

        No, clearly public transportation reduces car travel if the public transportation is wisely designed and implemented.

        What I can’t understand is how this triple long bus improves things. I sometimes ride buses both in the US and in other countries. Generally single length buses are not full.

        If you replace single length buses with ‘triples’ is would see that you would have to cut the frequency of buses by three in order to sell enough seats to break even.

        We’ve already got a problem in lots of the US in having too much time between buses. Going from the SF airport area to downtown SF there’s only one bus per hour. That sort of limited schedule sends people to their cars.

  • Anne

    Cross breed with a Routemaster and you have a 512 passenger bus…

    • http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan

      lol :D