here I found a video of someone riding in one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5FOqsHnXbQ

They're pretty cool, but they are going to be replaced soon by an underground subway system.
They're fun to ride in, though. :)

they're called "Mobile Lounges" if they're at a fixed height or "Plane Mates" if they can raise/lower the bus part mechanically

they're meant to allow passengers to board the plane directly from the bus

Get as many rides in as you can since the train should be done relatively soon and these things will be gone. Maybe you can buy one.

Dulles is the only airport in the world that uses those.

Mirabel Airport outside of Montreal used to use them, but that airport's closed to airline traffic.

so I'm assuming both sets of wheels can turn independently, since there is a cab on both ends of the bus

I want to see one fitted with monster truck wheels

>>125314

There's one at edwards for the space shuttle

>>125326

I'd totally get one of those (I'm sure Mirabel Airport doesn't have much use for them), but I doubt they're street-legal.

>>125314
Man, I grew up in DC, so I only ever flew out of Dulles. I guess I took these things for granted. Didn't know they were so uncommon.

whats so bad about the mobile lounge system? Would a fully organized, modern system with many mobile lounges boarding passengers to certain planes really be that inefficient? It sounds convenient to me

What's the point of those fins on top? Visibility then?

>>whats so bad about the mobile lounge system?
They shuttle people between the detached terminals, not from the terminals to the planes.
They currently cross taxiways and are a hurdle that prevents the airport from growing larger. Once they're replaced with the shuttle the sections that were for them will likely be converted to more gates.

On really busy days it can take a very long time to get to your gate if it's one of the ones operating from the detached terminal.
>>125516
Exhaust stacks for both the engine and HVAC.

actually the fins hold giant screw mechanisms inside that twist and allow the cabin to be elevated to the level of the plane

<------IAD (Dulles), new control tower and the shuttlebuses in the background. (Wasn't it clever for Southwest to put their brand on the inside of the vector tips?)

>>125284
Oh man, you're right. Right now, to get to the second terminal you have to go through this palatial hallway with moving floors.
I'm going to miss the mobile lounges though, they're great. It feels and sounds like you're on some sort of advanced land-crawler-type-thing, especially with the centered "cockpits."

>>125619
Oh, I thought they were to stabilize them when they went through jet exhaust.

Looks like Dulles could use a bit of help from KDFW Intl in the shuttle dept.

DFW's transit system(w/e the fuck its called) has been a great improvement.

>>125288

This. Party bus at the speed of smell? Fuck year!