For Liu Kai, one of Shanghai’s few bus drivers who are still driving without any air-conditioning, the nightmare starts in June.

“June, July, August and September are the worst months of the year as temperatures (inside the bus) could be as high as 40-plus degrees,” said the 49-year-old Shanghai native from Chongming, an isolated island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, more than 80 km from downtown Shanghai.

Liu Kai [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

The city had its first air-conditioned bus in 1996 and upgraded almost every bus with air-conditioning, except for those running onChongming Island and the southwestern suburb of Jinshan.

Ignoring the orange heat alert, which was issued by the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau during the past few weeks and showed the mercury soaring to over 37 C degrees, Liu puts the engine into gear and drives the bus on the Nanfeng Line to Chengqiao Town’s bus station to start his shift just before noon.

“My shift begins at 11:15 am and lasts until almost 7 pm,” said Liu.

Keeping him company over that seven and a half hours are passengers from Chongming’sChengqiao Town to Dongfeng Farm. The journey costs up 3 yuan ($0.48) depending on the distance.

It takes 37 minutes to make the approximately 20 km trip to Dongfeng Farm, with more than 20 stops on the way, said Liu.

According to GuFeidong, spokeswoman for Shanghai ChongmingBashi Public Transport Co. Ltd, where Liu works, buses without air-conditioning mainly covered Chongming’s remote rural areas.

“Only 28 out of our nearly 500 buses are not equipped with air-conditioning and about 50 drivers are assigned to those buses,” she said.

A 200 yuan subsidy is available every month for drivers like Liu as an allowance for the high temperatures.

“An extra 10 yuan is compensated to each driver for days over 37 C (each day),” she said.

As for Liu, after 20 years on the buses, the trick to fight the heat is foresight.

“I’m well-prepared,” said Liu, referring to his bottle of tea and a big towel.

“I left my lunch box at the bus terminus because it has a fridge and microwave — it would go bad if I took it with me in such hot weather.”

Lucky for him, it might be Liu’s last month riding the “sauna bus” as, according to Zhou Zhongcheng, deputy manager of the transport company, there are plans to upgrade the buses.

“The line could even be air-conditioned by August if head office approves,” said Zhou.