Prolific custom-vehicle creator George Barris (previously) also designed and built the Love Machine that was the central figure (Vandora) of the film Super Van and spawned a sub-genre of romance on the road. As with some of Barris’ other creations, the chassis of the Love Machine went through several incarnations that avoided acknowledging its spotted past including an appearance as a shuttle bus on Back to the Future II and on the television series seaQuest DSV.
Thursday 28 September 2017
Friday 2 June 2017
botany bus
Filed unfortunately under fleeting wonders as this traveling installation is only a temporary one, mass-transit passengers in Taipei are being treated to a perfusion of lush, living plants and moss-covered seats in a special forest livery roving the concrete jungles of the metropolis. For a week, commuters get the chance to commune with Nature courtesy to an experiment carried out by local florist and designer Alfie Lin. The ride looks absolutely magical and we’re hoping that it inspires other metro-systems to try providing similar, enduring experiences.
Tuesday 7 March 2017
brave little toaster
At a Geneva automotive showcase, Volkswagen unveiled its autonomous, self-driving concept vehicle that’s being called Sedric (an abbreviation of “SElf-DRIving Car”) whose boxy chassis is being characterised as looking like an angry toaster bearing down on traffic. I find its appearance to be pretty endearing but I don’t know if I could adjust to being chauffeured around on a comfy sofa, the cockpit stripped of all controls. If I wanted that experience, it’s readily available at little to no cost and it’s called the bus. In any case, I would imagine that the notion of car-ownership will undergo a pretty radical change not long after these first prototypes are rolled-out.
catagories: ๐จ๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐, environment
Tuesday 29 November 2016
free-ride, freifahrt
Monday 8 August 2016
plush and pile or the worshipful company of upholders
BBC Autos magazine examines that often observed but seldom questioned universal truth of the otherwise invisible upholstery that constitutes the patterns and fabric that adorn the seats of buses, trains, trams and planes through the lens of a textile epicure from Germany (which has particularly hideous and garish designs for their fleet of public buses) who ventured forth on a series of railway journeys camouflaged in clothes tailored from the same stylish fabrics that covered her carriage: why so ugly?
What asking the question prompted was pretty fascinating. Though fashion is prone to date itself, bus seats rarely show their age and worn out upholstery, sturdy and made out of a wool called moquette, is seldom the cause for refurbishment as they can last for decades, despite constant use, abuse and rough cleaning. The patterns are designed to disrupt the gaze of the passenger, as well, drawing attention away from neglected stains. Further, because of the enormous amount of fabric generated at a go, it’s likely a passenger will encounter multiple times, anywhere in the world. It’s a bit like the laser backdrop for picture day in grade school, and realising it was not unique to one’s class. Even for newly outfitted means of mass-transport, there’s the matter of upholding tradition, that being the antique term of course for the guild of upholsters.
Wednesday 3 August 2016
double-decker
Updating from a story circulated in May about China’s design for an elevated bus to skirt traffic snarls effortlessly, the same source is now reporting that the concept has gone from model to fully-functioning prototype already, just as the developers had pledged that they would deliver. First conceived in 2010, the programme did not go anywhere until just this summer, due to skeptical reception and lack of funding. The government was convinced, however, once it was demonstrated as navigable and a fleet of such straddling buses would cost only a tenth of what a subway would and reduce congestion by at least a conservative thirty percent.
Wednesday 25 May 2016
mass-transit or teb talks
Showcased at the latest Beijing International High-Tech Expo, the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) could potentially alleviate some of China’s infamous traffic snarls. If deemed street-ready, production of such machines, whose bus stops would be raised above fray as well.
I suppose such a vehicle might prove viable if the omnibus could kneel and raise-up accordingly to negotiate bridges or lorries. I have to wonder, however, how many other arteries might be clogged above street-level with more and more eventually adopting this model, like the exponential potential for the skies to become clogged with fly-cars. Driverless cars might be better plenipotentiaries for managing traffic flow—perhaps, if allowed to communicate with one another and not at cross-purposes. Can such a vehicle be programmed to sacrifice its timely arrival for the sake of letting the flow continue? Can a driverless car sacrifice the life and limb of its single occupant to avoid a deadly collision with a TEB full of passengers. In any case, I hope such steamrollers go into production.
Friday 19 June 2015
5x5
straฮฒenverkkehrsordnung: a unique roadway configuration and the technicalities of traffic regulations means that one stop light has been red for three decades in Dresden
four thousand holes in blackburn, lancashire: internet giant is checking computer reading-comprehension with conservative, sensational tabloids
electric babysitter: artist captures images of her children in listless, powerful moments of watching TV
raptor squat: honest-to-goodness zookeepers re-enacting pose from new Jurassic World
catagories: ๐ฌ, ๐ณ️๐, ๐ก, ๐บ, ๐️, ๐ง , ๐, myth and monsters, Saxony