The 300-meter test drive track for the controversial Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) project, also known as Batie, will be removed by the end of June, a local official said on Wednesday.
The superbus will be moved to a parking lot near the test site, according to a report by chinanews.com published on Wednesday, citing an unnamed local official from the Beidaihe district of Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei Province, where the test drive was implemented.
Batie, described as a revolution in Chinese transportation, straddles two traffic lanes, allowing cars to pass underneath, and stands 2 meters above the road.
The test drive area built in July 2016 was used for trial operations of Batie, the official told chinanews.com. After the short-term testing operation, TEB Technology Development Co, the vehicle's manufacturer, dismissed its employees and suspended the operation, said the official.
Media reports said Batie conducted trial operations in August 2016. The project has since sparked controversy due to the low feasibility of the bus design and the legality of the investment behind the project.
"We invited the Batie manufacturer to negotiate the issues [caused by the superbus] several times, but they just didn't show up," said the official, noting that the test site has affected local transportation.
Local authorities have actively made the decision to remove the test drive area, said the official.
A TEB employee, surnamed Zeng, who helped manufacture Batie, was delegated the responsibility of moving the bus to a parking lot, said the official, noting that Beidaihe district authorities will be the ones in charge of removing the test drive track and repairing the road.
The project is run by Beijing-based online peer-to-peer lending platform Huaying Kailai, which has been accused of raising money illegally from the public.
