Black box fix for Shanghai buses

Officials want to install 'black boxes' in all 18,000 of the city's buses

Bus companies in China's biggest city Shanghai are installing devices in buses so they can monitor drivers, according to local newspaper reports.

The data recorders are similar to the so-called "black-box" flight recorders which store information in aircraft.

The Shanghai Daily said the devices were being fixed in vehicles to catch drivers who broke the rules and committed traffic violations.

The information stored includes the speed and the number of times the doors are operated, so that companies can clamp down on drivers who break the rules.

An infra-red beam sends data to relay devices installed at bus stops.

"The devices will help us keep a complete record of our drivers' operation," said Ding Xiaodong an official at Dazhong Baitong Bus Company, according to the paper.

"If a driver violates traffic rules or does something incorrect, we can now analyse his behaviour and adjust his post," he said.

Dazhong Baitong has already installed the devices and now city officials are planning to put them in all 18,000 buses that operate in Shanghai.

The city authorities have been trying to improve public transport to combat traffic jams.

Bus drivers are sometimes known to speed and ignore traffic lights so they can make more journeys.