China's Elusive Elevated Bus Accused of Being Not Only Phony, But Also Fraudulent

The notion of a futuristic, high-tech bus that can miraculously reduce traffic congestion with its elevated, car-straddling design sounds like something straight out of science fiction. And critics say it's nothing more than that; a geeky – even misleading – sci-fi pipe dream, despite the recent fanfare surrounding what was billed as the “Transit Elevated Bus'” (TEB's) test run in the northern Hebei city of Qinhuangdao, photos of which emerged online and went viral on August 2.

Despite the public's initial enthusiasm for this bold form of transportation – both after the announcement of its Hebei test run, and demonstrations with a scale model this past May – writers at the Global Times remained unimpressed. The state-owned publication ran an editorial on August 4 that accused TEB inventor Song Youzhou of lying to investors, and the public at large, about the vehicle's degree of completion and overall feasibility. The ensuing controversy has even prompted some of the project's "mom and pop" investors to ask for their money back on August 9 (according to The Beijing News, via The Shanghaiist).

Those criticisms seemed to gain further traction when Asia One reported on August 9 that the bus' production center appeared to be abandoned, full of thick weeds and even farmers who had come to let their sheep graze.

Equally embarrassing was the Times that Song could dupe grassroots financiers into invested in the company via a peer-to-peer (P2P) crowdfunded platform. To put it mildly, Song's critics at the Times suggest that those investors aren't likely to see that money again. In the aforementioned The Beijing News article, one such investor said he wanted his contribution refunded, adding "My wife and I have invested more than 1 million yuan into Huaying Kailai's platform since 2014 with annual returns of 16 percent. But we want to get out money back now after reading negative news about the online platform."

Most devastating of all, however, is an earlier editorial on China.org.cn that unveiled connections between TEB and Huaying Land Group. Bai Zhiming, Huaying's manufacturing and property firm's chairman, currently also works as the president and CEO of TEB Technology. And the ties don't end there – a P2P through which TEB attracted a good chunk of its investment is conspicuously called Huaying Kailai and is operated by – you guessed it – Huaying Land Group. Though the P2P site has since been shut down, that hasn't stopped public's opinion of the bus to sour. One Weibo user wrote: "Fraud! I hope that the relevant Chinese government bodies crack down on the perpetrators as soon as possible to reduce harm to society and throw them in jail!”

When reached by the Sixth Tone – another state media outlet – later that day, Song denied the accusations. Song went on to tell the publication that "TEB’s funds come from 'private, individual investors,' and that while Bai has indeed invested in the company, the money is his own and not Huaying’s."

He also insisted that the bus' design is sound, despite some netizens' concerns that its upper portion might collapse on the cars below as it sped over them. We'd be much more concerned about inept drivers driving into the bus' stilts or freaking out when the bus passed by overhead.

The bad news continued from there: on August 3 state media outlet People’s Daily reported that the earlier August 2's test was not, in fact, "an official test run, and that the real test would occur in Zhoukou, Henan province, in 2017."

But the aforementioned Asia One report, about the Henan testing site being deserted, has left even the delay to 2017 seem unrealistic. A farmer that had lead his sheep to graze at the once promising site told the publication "They built a platform. People who stood on the platform were dressed up. It seemed like it was a big day, but there has been no activity since."

As if that wasn't bad enough, this 2017 delay is by no means the first time that the elevated bus project has stalled. News of Song's invention first broke in 2010, prompting Time magazine to name it one of the year's 50 Best Inventions, lauding the vehicle for being "Cheaper than a subway" and adding "the partly solar-powered behemoth will span two lanes and carry up to 1,200 people in a carriage raised 7 feet above the roadway, thus allowing cars to pass, or be passed, underneath. Passengers on the new bus should rightly expect to feel above it all." However, it didn't take long for those towering expectations to come crashing down – Guangzhou's Southern Weekly newspaper (via Sixth Tone) reported that those initial trial runs were scrapped "due to allegations that the company had misled local governments, and that Song had not fully demonstrated the feasibility of the design" (claims that Song has, of course, firmly denied).

Despite all the uproar, Song's dream may not yet be dead. An August 9 Times of India article reported that none other than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed interest in the bus during a meeting with his closest advisers about transport roadway efficiency. Time will only tell if, given India's interest, this ongoing elevated bus saga will turn into an international scandal or success story.

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Asia One, CCTV News