Seoul City Councilor Eunju Lee: "Seoul Must Develop Fair Route Adjustment Measures"

Assemblywoman Lee Eun-ju points out at administrative audit of Seoul City Urban Transportation Office and City Bus Association, "Expect active use of surplus reserve vehicles to ensure fairness in recurring annual city bus route complaints"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seoul Metropolitan Council Transportation Committee member Eun-ju Lee (Democratic Party, Nowon 2) pointed out issues with the current operation of surplus reserve vehicles in Seoul during the 303rd regular session while addressing the Urban Transportation Office and the Seoul City Bus Association. She expressed expectations that Seoul City will prepare necessary measures for fair route adjustments.

Under the semi-public bus system, Seoul City manages surplus reserve vehicles as vehicles outside the authorized fleet, operated and managed at the transport companies' own expense based on their necessity and choice.

Surplus reserve vehicles are recognized as the total number of reserve vehicles exceeding 4% of the authorized number per company.

Among the original 68 vehicles across 31 companies, as of May 2021, 37 vehicles are held by 18 companies, accounting for 30% of all city bus companies in Seoul.

Council member Lee stated, “While inevitable adjustments and reductions are necessary on routes overlapping with urban rail, conversely, there are often conflicting situations where increases are needed on routes lacking urban rail,” adding, “Problems in all local route adjustments inevitably lead to issues with surplus reserve vehicles.”

In particular, she criticized, “Regarding guidelines for reducing surplus reserve vehicles, I understand there is a significant difference in opinion between Seoul City and the association, and Seoul City should actively resolve this. The city bus routes in Seoul must serve as transportation welfare for citizens, and there must be no preferential treatment for specific companies.”

In response, Baek-ho, Director of the Urban Transportation Office, stated, “Going forward, instead of unconditional reductions, we plan to actively utilize surplus reserve vehicles for new and newly established routes.”

Finally, Council member Lee urged, “The unresolved bus route complaints over the past four years have been a textbook example of the limitations of ‘surplus reserve vehicles.’ I hope Seoul City will continue to take the lead in actively establishing routes utilizing surplus reserve vehicles so that citizens can enjoy city buses in any area where buses serve as their means of transportation.”

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