India, May 16 -- Against the backdrop of the recent rape within a State Transport (ST) bus in Pune, and amid incidents of drunk-driving by ST drivers, the transport department on Thursday announced a plan to buy 3,000 so-called smart buses, with features that will include anti-theft lock systems and burglar alarms, and breathalysers that prevent the bus from starting if the driver is inebriated.

The new buses would help extend the ST fleet as well. A tender had in fact been floated for 3,000 new buses. Now, all those buses will need to have a certain set of eight smart features.

The transport department held a meeting on Thursday with bus manufacturers and a safety consultancy and it was decided that all 3,000 new buses should be smart ...