Gwangju City Launches Full-Scale 'Gwangju-Style Public Transportation Citizen Practice Project'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 3rd that it will actively promote the citizen-led ‘Gwangju-type Public Transportation Citizen Practice Project’ to prepare for the opening of Urban Railway Line 2 and to increase the public transportation modal share and expand its user base.

The Gwangju-type Public Transportation Citizen Practice Project is a unique and diverse initiative centered on citizens, allowing them to directly experience and feel it, aimed at increasing the actual usage rate of public transportation, which has been declining due to the increase in private car-oriented traffic demand, and activating green transportation such as bicycle use.

To this end, the city, together with the Gwangju Sustainable Development Council, selected as the organizing institution through an open recruitment in March, will focus on four major citizen practice projects: revitalizing public transportation, green transportation lifestyle experience, understanding public transportation correctly, and producing public transportation promotional videos.

First, to revitalize public transportation linked with the free transfer system connecting city buses, village buses, and urban railways, event advertisements will be posted monthly inside city buses and urban railway vehicles. Passengers who take a boarding verification photo and send it via text message will be entered into a draw to receive small prizes.

Focusing on about 20 habitual congestion areas with a risk of city bus safety accidents, a Rose Day event will be held where roses symbolizing the call to eradicate illegal parking will be distributed to local residents, along with a citywide campaign to reduce traffic accidents under the slogan “Pedestrians are moving red lights.”

Second, to expand the base of public transportation and bicycle use, a green transportation lifestyle experience program will be operated.

A public transportation experience program called ‘Living One Month Without a Private Car’ will be run, where participants use city buses, urban railways, etc., for a month without using private cars and post episodes filled with joys and hardships or inconveniences and suggestions for improvement on social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook and Instagram.

Additionally, participants who download the Echo Bike app, register, and record their bicycle commuting will be eligible for the ‘Bicycle Commuting Challenge Competition.’ At the end of the year, awards such as Most Participants, Greenhouse Gas Reduction, and Bicycle Commuting will be selected and commemorative gifts and plaques will be presented.

Along with this, a ‘Public Transportation Acrostic Poem’ program will be operated for citizens who frequently use buses and other public transportation, with winning entries displayed in subway stations and public places.

Third, to provide citizens with accurate information about convenient and safe public transportation, the ‘Bitgoeul Transportation Academy’ and ‘Green Transportation Transition Forum’ will be held.

In the second half of this year, the city plans to operate the ‘1st Bitgoeul Transportation Academy,’ an online and offline learning program on transportation policies and advanced cases related to green transportation and public transportation, targeting citizens and public transportation monitoring groups.

To envision the future transportation landscape of Gwangju and share the transition to green transportation, policy forums on sustainable green transportation will be held twice a month for city council members, public officials, and transportation activists to help transform Gwangju into an advanced transportation city.

The city plans to produce videos that resonate with the activation of public transportation and the use of green transportation, post them on its website, and expose them through media such as public institutions, urban railways, and promotional electronic billboards to attract citizens’ interest.

Park Nam-eon, Director of the Transportation Construction Bureau of the city, said, “Once Urban Railway Line 2 opens, transfers between buses and urban railways in Gwangju will be much faster, making public transportation use more convenient.” He added, “We ask for the active interest and participation of citizens in the public transportation citizen practice program.”

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