Suwon Considers Adopting Semi-Public Bus Management System

The semi-public bus management system under review by Suwon City is an operational method in which the city acquires routes that are unprofitable and avoid operation by private companies, and then conducts bidding for delegated operation based on the gap between total transportation costs and transportation revenue.

According to data from the "Local Public Transportation Plan Establishment Business Mid-Report Meeting" held on the 26th of last month, bus demand is steadily declining due to increased private vehicle use and poor bus route services. This has led to poor management of the bus industry, and as unprofitable routes increase with no revenue generation, management conditions continue to deteriorate.

In particular, as companies face worsening business conditions, they are neglecting service quality as a cost-cutting measure, resulting in a downward standardization of services.

Rather than discontinuing routes that generate no revenue due to reduced bus ridership, the city has been flexibly adjusting routes by extending, shortening, consolidating, or reducing the number of buses operating on them whenever possible.

However, as this approach has limitations in improving service, there is a need to consider introducing a semi-public bus route system with route bidding and public bus services for unprofitable routes with no revenue, in order to provide stable service. This is being identified as necessary.

Accordingly, the city is known to be analyzing cases of adoption by other local governments and examining the feasibility of implementation in light of Suwon's characteristics and financial scale.

The public transportation issues reported by Suwon City on that day are as follows: ▲In terms of operational systems, out of 148 total routes, 66 routes pass through Paldalro, and about 40 routes on Yeokjeonro and Maesanro pass through Suwon Station, showing concentration in specific urban areas.

The route overlap rate in Suwon is 13.39%, while the average for Gyeonggi Province is 8.63%. This is causing severe urban traffic congestion and resulting in user inconvenience.

▲In terms of service, a survey of users revealed inconveniences including long intervals between buses (36.5%), excessive detours (15.2%), and failure to maintain on-time schedules (13.7%).

Currently, Suwon operates 100 city buses, 36 seat buses, and 12 village buses, for a total of 148 routes covering a total distance of 3,078 kilometers.

A city official stated, "We plan to establish public transportation policies and funding strategies including bus route rationalization in response to changing transportation environments such as the opening of the Bundang Line extension and land development projects in Yongin Heungdeok and Homaeshil districts."

The city plans to hold a final report meeting around June 21st and establish and implement a five-year public transportation plan for the city through 2011.