Pohang City Overhauls City Bus Routes for the First Time in 12 Years... Expands Routes Connecting Tourist Attractions

Mayor Lee Gang-deok "Switching to Eco-Friendly Electric Vehicles Starting Next Year"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Pohang City, Gyeongbuk, will completely reorganize city bus routes starting from the 25th. This bus route reorganization is the first in 12 years since 2008.

The existing system, which operates 200 buses across 109 routes, will be expanded and reorganized into a total of 119 routes, and 263 buses will be operated with an increase of 63 eco-friendly electric buses (31.7%).

Considering the rapid entry into an aging society and air pollution such as fine dust, Pohang City explained that the route reorganization is based on the judgment that a policy shift focused on revitalizing public transportation rather than private vehicles is urgently needed.

Pohang City, which formed a route reorganization task force in 2017, finalized the route reorganization plan by reflecting the opinions of the council and citizens based on a proposal from a professional institution. Preparations for implementation have been underway.

There was also a delay until this year due to certification issues with electric buses originally scheduled for July last year. According to this reorganization, the number of bus operations in the urban area, which was 995 times, will increase significantly by 32.5% to 1,323 times. Accordingly, the dispatch interval has been greatly reduced from the existing 25-30 minutes to 10-15 minutes, allowing citizens to use buses more conveniently.

Areas such as Handong University, Yongheung-dong, Homigot, and Chogok District, where city bus use was previously difficult, have been included in the service area, and routes connecting major local tourist attractions have been greatly expanded, making access to tourist sites via public transportation much easier.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, "Taking this route reorganization as an opportunity, starting next year, even if more budget is invested, we will actively promote securing national and provincial subsidies to replace 50% of buses that are 11 years old with eco-friendly electric vehicles, encouraging much more use of public transportation instead of private vehicles."

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