The 10 buses are operated by Shanghai Bashi Xinxin Automobile Service Company. The fare is 2 yuan - the same as air-conditioned buses.

Chen Youkou, a senior engineer of the project, said: "The city government plans to gradually upgrade other buses."

There are about 20,000 buses, including 424 electric, in the city. According to Chen, the older, diesel powered buses produce carbon monoxide and led particles, two major air pollutants.

According to a preliminary plan, the government has decided to upgrade the No. 13 and No. 20 routes in the next phase, Chen said.

The cost of an upgrade for each bus is about 200,000 yuan.

Chen said the next step is to increase the power of capacitors so that they can run longer distances without a charge - particularly during rush hours.

He said the government also plans to gradually remove most overhead wires and power poles downtown.

Experts said maintenance will be about 80 percent cheaper compared to a conventional bus, creating strong market potential for transport operators.

Chen said the environmentally friendly buses have one major drawback. If it runs at a slow speed for quite some time, it loses power quickly.

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