Seoul City's Bus Semi-Public Operation System, Receiving 600 Billion Won Annually, Faces Criticism for Poor Management

Seoul City Councilor Jeong Jin-cheol Criticizes Poor Implementation of 'Basic Plan for Improvement of City Bus Semi-Public Operation System' Established Last October... "The system, which involves massive financial support subsidies, should be legalized through ordinances to ensure legitimacy, and external accounting audits and joint recruitment of drivers must be properly implemented to secure operational transparency"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's 'Basic Plan for Improving the Semi-Public Operation System of City Buses,' announced in October last year to address issues in the semi-public operation system of city buses, has come under scrutiny for poor implementation, as key priority tasks have yet to be carried out even after one year of enforcement.

At the administrative audit of the Urban Transportation Office during the 298th regular session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council held on the 5th, Councilor Jeong Jin-cheol (The Democratic Party, Songpa 6) stated, “Although more than 600 billion won in financial support subsidies have been provided this year, there is a lack of clear legal grounds for the semi-public operation system implemented through agreements with the city bus industry.” He added, “Some obsolete provisions should be deleted, and contents such as the management of transportation revenue should be codified in ordinances to legitimize the implementation.”

He continued, “The standard cost system, which was decided to replace the actual cost payments for driver wages and fuel expenses last year to reduce the budget and pay a fixed amount based on standard costs, has not even been implemented after one year. Furthermore, issues such as excessive payment of executive wages and improvements in the treatment of maintenance and office staff, which were supposed to be addressed, have not been made at all,” criticizing the situation.

He also pointed out that the external audit financial statements, which the bus industry is supposed to report to Seoul City by April every year, have not been properly reported to the standing committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, urging immediate correction.

In a subsequent opportunity to speak, Councilor Jeong demanded prompt corrective action, stating, “In the process of appointing external auditors, a certain bus company still does not comply with the legal restriction of appointing the same accounting firm for more than six years.”

He also ordered improvements to ensure transparency in operations by addressing issues in the joint recruitment system for drivers, such as the inclusion of many candidates with less than one year of experience holding a large vehicle license in the talent pool, and the failure to filter out those with alcohol-related offenses or license suspensions from the talent pool.

In response, Hwang Bo-yeon, head of the Urban Transportation Office, replied that the pointed issues would be carefully reviewed and improvements would be promptly pursued.

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