Bus/Tram Combo Charges Battery As It Picks Up Passengers

German researchers are testing a unique form of public transportation that borrows the best from busses, electric cars, trains and trams without contributing emissions. The vehicle, namedAutoTram, is fully electric, but instead of running on a single charge, it charges when it stops, gaining enough power in 30 seconds to move another mile.
The project comes from the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI in Dresden and aims to offer the convenience, routing flexibility and affordability of a bus, minus the noise and exhaust. It also addresses the problem of lengthy battery charging cycles. While most cars are only in use for a few hours per day, public transportation vehicles can be in action around the clock, offering nearly no battery charging opportunities.
The streetcar is partly inspired by light rail systems, but doesn’t require rails or overhead lines, making it less expensive to implement. Instead, AutoTram’s tires follow white lines painted on the road and a multi-axle steering system gives it the maneuverability of a regular bus.
AutoTram stops would jolt supercapacitors in the vehicle with 700 volts during its brief stops. The team decided against using lithium-ion batteries, which are heavier and require more time to charge. A diesel generator also rides on board to serve as a back-up in case the next charging station is too far.
According to the team, AutoTram’s costs would be 30 to 50 times less than those of light rail systems, although still pricier than diesel-powered busses. The project is supported by 34.5 million euros from the German Government’s Economic Policy Program.
Source:http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/03/bustram-combo/

Drive A Bus Through The Desert On Your Phone (For Charity!)

I hope you like the landscape you see here because if you buy Amateur Pixel’s new Desert Bus app, you’ll be looking at it for the next eight hours. Seriously.
The $.99 Desert Bus app is a pixel-perfect remake of the original trek as seen in “Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors,” the duo’s first (and only) video game from 1995. In it, you play an intrepid bus driver named Jocko who’s tasked with driving his rig 360 miles from Tucson to Las Vegas. Ah, but there’s a twist: you’ve got to do it in real time.
Don’t think you can let your phone sit there as the bus chugs along, either: the bus’s steering pulls ever-so-slightly to the right so you’ll have to make sure it doesn’t go off-road. If it does, the bus is getting towed back to Tucson in — you guessed it — real time. Here’s hoping you didn’t nod off at the wheel, because that’s one chunk of your life you’re never going to get back.
Desert Bus has become something of a cult classic recently, and has even spawned its own yearly charity event. It’s only fitting then that all the proceeds from the app’s sales go to this year’s Desert Bus For Hope event, which raises money for the day-brighteners at Child’s Play. Versions are available for iOS and Android, but you may want to keep some No-Doz handy just in case.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/22/drive-a-bus-through-the-desert-on-your-phone-for-charity/