Public buses will soon be cloaked in six different hues, depending on their opera-tors, as the local transport authority tries to streamline the color combination on city roads.

　　Industry officials said yesterday that vehicles under small- and medium-sized bus operators will be turned into two unified colors of dark blue and dark rosy red.

　　Four other shades - light green, mint green, pearl yellow and dark green - will be assigned to the city's four major bus line operators - Shanghai Bashi Industrial (Group) Co Ltd, Shanghai Dazhong Transportation (Group) Co Ltd, Shanghai Qiangsheng (Group) Co Ltd and Pudong Kwoon Chung Bus Co Ltd.

　　Bus colors are generally decided by various com-panies which usually opt for similar shades. Unifying the colors will improve the city's street landscape, the Shang-hai Public Transport Admi-nistration Office said.

　　Though it'll take long to change all the colors, offi-cials promised to complete it by the end of next year.

　　Only weeks ago, the local transport authority started unifying colors of cabs carrying cargo. Passenger taxis have already been unified into eight colors, with seven famous brands having their own shades and the remaining small companies sharing a deep red tint, allowing passengers the comfort of easily taking their favorite cabs.

　　Currently, 18,000 buses ply 950 bus routes in Shanghai. These buses operate under 51 different companies.