Kim Hyun-mi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, "Temporary Exemption of Bus and Expressway Tolls"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 9th, Kim Hyun-mi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced that she will pursue a temporary exemption from highway tolls for the bus industry, which is struggling due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the same day, Minister Kim visited the Banpo Seoul Express Bus Terminal in Seoul and held a meeting with the bus industry, stating, “We will urge local governments to expedite the execution of bus finances and actively encourage them to expand financial support for the bus sector through supplementary budgets in the future.”

Due to the impact of COVID-19, express buses and intercity buses have experienced severe difficulties, with the average number of passengers per route sharply decreasing by 70 to 80% from last month’s 24th to this month’s 1st over one week. The average number of express bus passengers dropped from 990,000 in the same period last year to 260,000, and intercity bus passengers decreased from 3.2 million to 950,000, respectively.

If highway tolls for buses are exempted, it is expected to partially reduce the operating cost burden for buses. The toll reduction must go through the Cabinet meeting and then the official notification process.

Regarding the financial difficulties faced by the bus industry, Minister Kim emphasized, “We will consult with related agencies to actively utilize financial support programs such as those from the Korea Development Bank, and will also actively promote flexible operation of express and intercity buses. Companies that need to temporarily close due to passenger decline should actively use employment maintenance subsidies.” She added, “Since charter buses are facing significant difficulties due to numerous contract cancellations, we will consult with related ministries to designate them as special employment crisis industries.”

Meanwhile, Minister Kim visited the Seoul Express Bus Terminal on the same day to inspect COVID-19 related bus disinfection activities and encourage the workers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.