Ten to 20 environmentally friendly trolleys without electric conductors will run along the city's downtown streets by the end of this year, the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission said yesterday.

A prototype has been built, and will undergo trials next month.

The new trolley will help reduce air pollution, and will be aesthetically pleasing because it will not have the same ugly network of electrical wires on which current trolleys depend.

"Soon after the trial, we will introduce the first trolley for actual use," said Ma Xingfa, chief of the social development department of the commission. "It will drive through downtown areas like Huaihai Road and People's Square to test its overall performance."

The average cost of one trolley is 600,000 (US$72,289) to 700,000 yuan, about a third more expensive than a traditional one.

At present, the city's main modes of transportation, other than the underground, are buses and electric trolleys. The latter, which are connected to a web of overhead wires, are slow and ugly and make abrupt stops.

The new trolley, developed by local bus companies and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, will be equipped with a rechargeable electrical capacitor, allowing it to travel up to 5 kilometers at 40 kilometers per hour nonstop.

The new trolley can check its power reserve, and can be recharged in a matter of seconds at a waiting stand.

Shanghai Bashi Trolley Bus Ltd, operator of the city's existing 500-plus trolley buses, said it has not decided whether to adopt the new trolleys as part of its fleet.

Much rests on the outcome of the trial period next month, during which time any flaws in the vehicle should become apparent.

"It's too early to say whether we will use it or not. We'd like to see whether the new buses run smoothly without problems or breakdowns under the new system," Xia said.

The final decision, officials said, will also depend on the government's subsidies policy.

"The cost of buying a bus without electric conductors is too high for us,'' said an official surnamed Xia with the trolley bus company.

"If the government has no plans to subsidize the new bus, I'm afraid the company won't be ready to operate these vehicles," Xia added.

Trolley buses do no harm to the environment, but they're less flexible than ordinary buses, which are propelled by pollution-causing diesel engines.

(Shanghai Daily February 17, 2004)