Chuncheon City to Offer Free Bus Rides to Seniors Aged 65 and Over Receiving Basic Pension Starting Next Year

Up to 20 Times Per Month... Unlimited Free Transfers

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Starting next year, citizens aged 65 and older receiving basic pension benefits in Chuncheon City will be able to use buses free of charge.

On the 15th, Lee Jae-su, Mayor of Chuncheon, held a meeting to explain plans and measures to expand transportation welfare.

From 2022, the plan is to support seniors aged 65 and older who receive the basic pension to use buses free of charge.

The city plans to submit the "Chuncheon City Senior Citizens Bus Free Use Support Ordinance" to the city council this October.

Once administrative procedures are completed, after preparations such as system construction, the program will be fully implemented from early 2022.

The target number of beneficiaries is about 31,000, which is approximately 60% of all seniors aged 65 and older in Chuncheon.

Seniors will receive a dedicated transportation card at their eup, myeon, or dong offices and can use the bus free of charge up to 20 times per month.

The city estimates the required budget to be about 800 million KRW annually, based on an average of 3 public transportation uses per week by those aged 65 and older.

Additionally, from the end of this month, unlimited free bus transfers will be allowed. Currently, free transfers are limited to two times within 40 minutes, but this will be expanded to unlimited transfers within 60 minutes.

The policy aims to expand transportation welfare by allowing bus users to transfer to their destinations without additional fare burdens, thereby reducing transportation costs.

The city is currently preparing the system for the new transfer discount implementation and plans to start it from the end of October this year.

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