By Zachary Shahan, Source: Treehugger

Hot new public transit concepts don’t come along every day, but here’s a new one based on one of the oldest transportation options: “water buses.”

The obvious thing to note is that these won’t be applicable everywhere. However, for cities with rivers running through them, researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering say that water buses would be a viable form of public transit, and that they offer a number of unique benefits.

First of all, without all the traffic, travel times could be cut up to 33% for some trips in Stockholm, the core study city. The water buses would also cut road traffic congestion even more than conventional buses. Furthermore, the researchers believe that water buses would better complement bicycling. The report notes that it would be easier to load and unload bikes from water buses than from conventional buses or trains.

Read the full article at: Treehugger