"Running Like This, What About the Bus Schedule..." Bus Industry Voices Concerns Over Safety Speed 5030 Implementation

On the morning of the 18th, the second day of the implementation of the 'Safe Speed 5030' policy, which lowers speed limits on roads nationwide, a notice informing about the safe speed is posted at Jonggak Intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] "How do you adjust the bus intervals while driving at 30Km~50Km?"

Concerns from the bus industry continue regarding the 'Safe Speed 5030' policy.

'Safe Speed 5030' is a traffic policy that lowers the vehicle speed limit in urban areas to 50km and the speed limit on pedestrian-focused side streets to below 30km. It was planned to reduce fatalities and injuries in traffic accidents and has been fully implemented since the 17th after a pilot operation.

However, concerns have been continuously raised mainly by public transportation users and the public transportation industry about this policy. Since Safe Speed 5030 focuses on low-speed driving, there are worries about traffic congestion and inconvenience to citizens.

In particular, the bus industry expressed dissatisfaction that only the driving speed is restricted while the set vehicle operation times must still be met. When operating buses, it is inevitable to adjust speeds faster or slower to maintain the dispatch intervals. This is especially true when traffic congestion occurs due to traffic accidents or bad weather. However, if driving speeds are uniformly restricted ignoring these factors, it will be difficult to guarantee drivers' rest times, and citizens' fatigue is also expected to increase.

The Daejeon Metropolitan City Regional Bus Labor Union issued a statement on the 8th saying, "Bus drivers who work in driving inevitably face the embarrassing reality of becoming targets of special crackdowns and surveillance," and "We will stop the reckless driving to meet operation times and focus on safe driving."

Meanwhile, opinions surrounding 'Safe Speed 5030' are very diverse. Netizens responded with comments such as "The proportion of traffic accidents caused by speeding is not as high as expected," "How will they enforce low-speed driving only in areas with speed cameras?" and "It would be good to apply it flexibly on large roads like six-lane roads."

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