Chungnam, First in the Nation to Introduce Free Bus Service for Children and Adolescents

Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungcheongnam-do, is briefing at the Chungnam Provincial Government briefing room on the 15th about the introduction and operation of a policy to provide free bus fares for children and adolescents under the age of 18 starting from April next year. Provided by Chungnam Province

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is expanding the scope of free bus usage to include children and adolescents.

The province announced on the 15th that starting from April next year, it will implement a policy to provide free bus fares for children and adolescents aged 18 and under.

The free bus fare policy for those aged 18 and under is introduced to guarantee mobility rights for children and adolescents, expand transportation welfare, revitalize public transportation, and realize a low-cost society.

The target population is estimated to be 260,790 residents of Chungnam. By age group, there are 142,682 children aged 6 to 12 and 118,108 adolescents aged 13 to 18. Additionally, children aged 5 and under can ride the bus for free when accompanied by a guardian, according to the Passenger Transport Service Act.

The province plans to realize the free bus fare policy by having children and adolescents first pay the bus fare using the ‘Chungnam-type transportation card’ and then refunding the fare for up to three rides per day.

Statistics show that the average annual number of bus rides per youth in the region is 301.9. Considering the bus fare of 1,180 KRW based on the card, the province estimates that the annual benefit per youth will be 356,242 KRW.

The budget required for the free bus fare policy for children and adolescents next year is expected to be 21.6 billion KRW, with the province and city/counties planning to share the cost equally.

To this end, Governor Yang Seung-jo of Chungnam Province, Mayor Hwang Myung-seon of Nonsan, and other mayors and county heads from 15 cities and counties signed a business agreement to expand support projects for public transportation use, including free bus fares for children and adolescents, at the ‘21st Chungcheongnam-do Local Government Meeting’ held last May.

Meanwhile, the province was the first in the nation to introduce a free bus fare policy for seniors aged 75 and over (July 2019), as well as for persons with disabilities, national merit recipients, and their families (July last year).

The free bus fare policy for children and adolescents is also the first policy of its kind to be implemented nationwide by Chungnam.

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