12 Privately-Operated Wide-Area Bus Routes in Gyeonggi Province to Operate as 'Gyeonggi Province Public Buses' from First Service on September 1st

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon] Twelve wide-area bus routes in Gyeonggi Province that have been operated under private management will transition to 'Gyeonggi Province Public Buses' with reinforced public service and quality from the first service on September 1st.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 31st, the routes that will be converted to Gyeonggi Province public buses and begin operation are ▲1 route in Gwangmyeong City, ▲7 routes in Yongin City, ▲1 route in Paju City, ▲1 route in Pyeongtaek City, ▲2 routes in Hwaseong City, totaling 12 routes with 110 buses across 5 municipalities.

To this end, Gyeonggi Province completed preparatory procedures starting with a bidding announcement on June 23rd, including recruitment and selection of transport operators and pre-operation inspections.

As a result, approximately 90% of the 245 direct-seat intercity bus routes with 2,338 buses that handle metropolitan-wide mobility within the province—a total of 220 routes with 2,070 buses—will now operate as Gyeonggi Province public buses.

Previously, the province had transitioned 70 direct-seat intercity bus routes that had been operated under the 'Revenue Pooling Method' to Gyeonggi Province public buses as of August 1st.

The 12 new routes will be operated under limited licenses with an initial license period of 5 years.

Thereafter, based on service evaluation results, the license can be extended by 4 years one time, allowing for up to 9 years of route operation rights.

'Gyeonggi Province Public Buses' is a new semi-public bus system that Gyeonggi Province has implemented since 2019 to overcome problems of the Revenue Pooling Method semi-public management system implemented in Seoul and other regions.

Like the existing 'Revenue Pooling Method' semi-public management system, it is the same in guaranteeing the operating deficits of transport operators through public budgets. However, unlike the 'Revenue Pooling Method' semi-public management system where operators hold permanent licenses, the public owns the route rights and entrusts operation rights to transport operators selected through open competitive bidding for a certain period.

Heo Nam-seok, Director of Transportation at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "We will make groundbreaking improvements to services to realize a Gyeonggi Province where public transportation is more convenient than private vehicles."