Daejeon City to Resume 'Passenger Car Day System' Operation from Next Month

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City announced on the 18th that it will resume the operation of the Passenger Car Day-Off Program starting from the 1st of next month.

The resumption comes after a 2 year and 4 month suspension due to the spread of COVID-19.

Previously, the city temporarily suspended the Passenger Car Day-Off Program from February 24, 2020, to minimize personal contact during commuting hours.

The Passenger Car Day-Off Program is a citizen voluntary practice movement where participants refrain from driving their vehicles for one day between Monday and Friday.

The city introduced the Passenger Car Day-Off Program in 2012 with the aim of reducing urban traffic congestion, improving air quality, and saving energy by cutting down on car usage at least one day a week, and has been operating it since then.

Citizens who participate in the Passenger Car Day-Off Program receive benefits such as reductions in automobile tax. However, if a participant drives on the designated day off more than 10 times (up to 9 times per year allowed), the program benefits will be revoked and the participant will be disqualified from the program.

As of the end of last year, out of 500,000 eligible vehicles (non-commercial passenger cars with 10 seats or fewer) in Daejeon, about 50,000 are participating in the Passenger Car Day-Off Program.

The city provides benefits to vehicle owners participating in the program, including ▲10% reduction in automobile tax (up to 18% if paid in advance) ▲50% discount on public parking fees ▲10% discount on vehicle inspection fees (excluding the Korea Transportation Safety Authority).

Cho Cheol-hwi, head of the Tram Metropolitan Headquarters of the city, said, “Citizen participation in the Passenger Car Day-Off Program will be an opportunity to accelerate Daejeon’s transformation into a public transport-centered city and a carbon-neutral leading city,” and added, “We ask for strict adherence to the day-off by participants and active participation from citizens who have not yet joined, starting from the 1st of next month when the program resumes.”

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