Shanghai plans to set up a network of school buses to replace shuttle buses run by individual schools, the Shanghai Education Commission said yesterday.

The city-funded buses will go into service in September, when all school buses are required to be painted yellow and follow one of three publicly chosen designs, which were unveiled yesterday.

The commission said fares would cost one yuan (12 US cents) per trip, but that details were still under discussion.

The bus network would work in a similar fashion to the city's public bus system, with buses serving more than one school.

"We have to take both students' needs and the city's public transportation condition into consideration," said Yang Yongming, director of the commission's youth protective division.

The three bus designs unveiled yesterday all include a heart-shaped logo intended to raise publlic awareness of children's traffic safety.

(Shanghai Daily March 21, 2007)