Shanghai outfits 9000 buses with alarms  

上海9000多辆公交车可“报警”

上海公交车新装备改造快速推进。记者9日从巴士集团方面获悉，巴士投入运营的9000多辆公交车新增“报警”装置，并对公交车开始安装应急“逃生窗”改造，车厢内全面推广增设醒目的“安全提示”黄色标识。

Shanghai (CNS) -- Shanghai Ba-shi Public Transportation has installed alarm devices in more than 9,000 buses, and started the upgrading of escape windows and safety warning labels in their fleet, the company told CNS on Saturday.

Alarm systems improve the emergency response capability of bus managers and optimize the safety of the city's urban transportation network.

By the end of 2012, Shanghai will have 7,500 buses with emergency windows; currently most of its carriages are sealed.

Organic glass preventer plates have been installed on the floors in several lines, to protect passengers from slipping down during acceleration or emergent braking. The feature is especially important for Shanghai's rapidly aging passenger demographic.

The city is adding 2,000 new "smart" coin machines within the year, that will be able to recognize counterfeits and provide traffic updates; fully half of them will be serving 86 bus routes.