Amazing solar, detachable-bike tour bus would immerse tourists in cities

Tourist buses don't usually have good reputations with the locals. Take Seattle's duck boat tour (that also drives on land) that blares music as tourists singalong or Washington D.C.'s Tourmobile that has a monopoly on guided tourism on the National Mall.

But there might be one tourist transportation concept that even the locals could get behind.

Kukil Han, a designer from Seoul, has a come up with the amazing solar-powered tour bus where tourists sit on a bike. When tourists arrive at their destination the bikes detach from the bus and the tourists are free to explore the area. A GPS system is on handle bars to help tourists navigate the destination. It's public transportation meets bike-share. Check out the video:

BIKE GUIDE from Kukil Han on Vimeo.

Not only does this design keep tourists from polluting the city, but it helps to integrate tourists into the community and neighborhoods where on a traditional tour bus they would just gawk like they're at the zoo. Tourists can more naturally immerse themselves into the fabric of the city they're visiting and have a more rich exploration of the city when they're on a bike. Plus, with a GPS unit built in the bikes there's no lost, confused tourists biking around the city (you can dream, right?).

[Via Treehugger]

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com