Gyeonggi Province Residents' Rights Committee Recommends Gunpo City to Improve Reporting Standards and Install Prevention Facilities

The Gyeonggi Province Residents' Rights Committee announced on the 11th that it has recommended Gunpo City to establish improvement measures including refining citizen reporting standards and installing illegal parking and stopping prevention facilities, as buses are unable to enter designated stopping zones due to habitual illegal parking and stopping around the Daya-mi Three-way Intersection Bus Stop, with passengers repeatedly boarding and exiting on the traffic lane, creating safety risks.

According to the committee's on-site investigation, some vehicles trying to access nearby shops occupy the bus stop entrance and exit lanes for around one minute, repeatedly preventing large buses from properly entering the designated stopping zone.

As a result, situations have occurred where buses stop on traffic lanes instead of designated stopping zones and passengers board and exit buses on the traffic lane, exposing them to traffic accident risks.

This decision was initiated by a citizen complaint requesting resolution of the illegal parking and stopping problem around the Daya-mi Three-way Intersection Bus Stop. The complainant reported that vehicles repeatedly parked and stopped on the bus stop entrance and exit lanes, obstructing bus operations and safe boarding and exiting of passengers.

Article 32 of the current Road Traffic Act stipulates that vehicles must not stop or park within 10 meters from where pillars, signs, or markings indicating a bus stop are installed.

However, the 'Gunpo City Illegal Parking and Stopping Citizen Reporting System Operating Standards' designates only 'vehicles encroaching on bus stop surface markings' as subjects of citizen reports.

Consequently, even though bus stop entrance and exit lanes correspond to no-parking zones under the Road Traffic Act, there are limitations in receiving and processing citizen reports if vehicles do not directly encroach on surface markings.

The Gyeonggi Province Residents' Rights Committee plans to consult with relevant departments to examine citizen reporting standards for bus stops in other cities and counties, and to review institutional improvement measures if necessary.

Chang Jin-su, chairman of the Gyeonggi Province Residents' Rights Committee, stated, "Illegal parking and stopping around bus stops not only obstructs bus operations but can threaten citizen safety by requiring passengers to board and exit on traffic lanes. We will continue to improve both systems and on-site conditions so that buses can normally enter designated stopping zones and citizens can safely use public transportation."