Nam Kyung-pil: "Urgent Coordination with Authorities Needed to Prevent Bus Crisis"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil warned that a bus crisis is expected after the end of August and proposed that relevant authorities including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul City, Incheon City, 31 cities and counties within the province, and bus operators work together to develop countermeasures.

During an emergency briefing at 2 p.m. on August 4, Governor Nam announced, "After analyzing BMS (Bus Management System) and traffic card data over approximately 20 days since the implementation of the standing-room-only ban, we found that a minimum of 445 additional bus runs are needed during morning commute hours after the end of summer vacation at the end of August."

Governor Nam emphasized, "We must honestly clarify the nature of the problem, and all relevant authorities must gather and put their heads together to find a solution."

Governor Nam stated, "The situation is less chaotic now because it is summer vacation, but a full-scale crisis will begin after the end of summer vacation and holidays at the end of August. Although a crisis was anticipated, everyone was doing nothing. Now that we have actually analyzed the data, we have concluded that significantly more buses must be added than expected to prevent chaos, which is why I am proposing dialogue."

According to data released by Gyeonggi Province on that day, the province had originally planned to increase buses by 208 units heading toward Seoul and to add 270 additional morning commute runs to address the standing-room-only ban issue, but in reality, the plan fell significantly short.

According to actual operation analysis, on July 16 when the standing-room-only ban was implemented, additional buses deployed were 163 units, reaching only 78 percent of the target. Additional morning commute runs were 180, which was 67 percent of the plan. In a second survey on the 23rd, additional buses deployed were 164 units at 79 percent, and additional morning commute runs were only 134 at 50 percent of the plan.

Regarding this, Governor Nam stated, "If 445 additional runs are provided, the standing-room-only problem will be resolved for now, but realistically there are two issues," and added, "We must all discuss together how to address the traffic congestion problem that will occur as the additional buses head to Seoul and the cost burden that comes with the increase."

Governor Nam further argued that since 445 additional runs are not a fundamental solution, a forum to discuss fundamental alternatives such as the construction of transfer centers must be established.

In response to a question about specific measures from Gyeonggi Province, Governor Nam said, "Within 10 days, the province will develop and announce measures for tasks that it can undertake on its own," and added, "However, since this is not a fundamental solution, it is necessary to have a separate forum where everyone gathers to discuss comprehensive measures."

Governor Nam stated, "This is not something Gyeonggi Province can handle alone; Seoul City, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and operators must all gather to develop measures," and said, "In the past, this kind of data could have been hidden because it means admitting that previous measures were insufficient. However, even at the risk of criticism, if we continue in this state, considerable chaos is expected. Therefore, I am saying that the wisdom of all parties is needed to prevent that chaos."