[Breaking News] Reduction of 325 Seoul City Bus Routes Starting at 9 PM Today

Excluding 20 Congested Routes, Night Buses, and Village Buses

On the 24th, officials were disinfecting at the garages of city buses 6512 and 5618 in Guro-gu / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the number of night city bus operations after 9 PM will be reduced for one week starting today (31st). However, routes with high passenger usage during this time, such as village buses, will be excluded from the reduction.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 30th that night city bus operations will be reduced by 20% from today until the 6th of next month. Accordingly, the number of night operations on 325 routes from 9 PM to midnight will decrease from 4,554 to 3,644, a reduction of 910 trips (20%).

This measure aims to encourage citizens to return home early to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Bus intervals will be adjusted from every 10 minutes to about every 15 minutes, and from every 20 minutes to every 25 to 30 minutes.

Ten main line bus routes and ten branch line bus routes with more than 36 passengers per trip and congestion rates exceeding 80%, as well as owl buses and village buses, are excluded from the reduction. These include routes 102, 108, 152, 420, 421, 461, 602, 603, 641, 643, 1135, 1224, 3011, 4212, 5515, 5516, 5523, 6627, 6716, and 7612.

Seoul City will inform passengers of the reduced operations through bus stops and electronic bus information boards and will encourage early return home via the broadcasting system.

Furthermore, continuous monitoring will be conducted after implementation, and if increased vehicle movement causes road congestion or if a safe bus usage environment is not maintained, the scale of reductions will be adjusted to manage congestion.

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