The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has decided to install Global Positioning Systems on its outstation buses.

"The GPS will monitor the movement of buses, its speed, number of passengers, vacant seats, stoppages -- both authorised and unauthorised -- and height in terrain where it is travelling," MSRTC Director Kishore Kanhere said on Friday.

On an experimental basis, five buses -- from Nagpur to Pandharpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia and Pune -- have been selected, Kanhere said.

Gradually, it will be introduced in Pune, Nashik, Konkan and Mumbai depots, he said.

A team of MSRTC officials and directors had recently visited Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to study the operation of their bus service.

An average of Rs 10,000 would be spent on the technology, he added.