Security on public transit

The news that the bus fire in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Saturday, which injured 32 people, was started deliberately has once again raised concerns about bus security. The motive for the arson is as yet unknown. But it is not the first time that a bus was set on fire by an arsonist. Two similar extreme cases happened in Chengdu in 2009 and in Xiamen last year, claiming dozens of lives and leaving more injured.

It's urgent that bus security is tightened, as an increasing number of people rely on buses - data shows the bus line on which the tragedy happened has a daily flow of about 20,000 passengers. The number of passengers using buses in the metropolises is even larger. In Beijing, the number of bus trips made by passengers can reach more than 20 million on a single day, even higher than that of subway.

However, compared with subways, buses have much more lines and bus stops, making it very difficult to implement strict safety checks. More convenient measures must be relied on to protect bus drivers and passenger's safety.