Neglected Mobility Rights for Disabled and Elderly... "Low-Floor Bus Distribution Rate Significantly Below Plan"

The Budget Office's target distribution rate is 42%, but the actual distribution rate is 30.6%
Out of the required budget of 431.7 billion KRW, only 236.4 billion KRW has been allocated
The distribution rates for village buses and rural low-floor buses are only 3.9% and 1.5%, respectively

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Although the national introduction of low-floor buses is being promoted to guarantee the mobility rights of transportation-disadvantaged individuals, the supply rate is significantly lagging behind the business plan. There is also a large gap between regions and between city buses and village buses, resulting in users' benefits not being guaranteed.

According to the National Assembly Budget Office's report on June 8, "Financial Requirement Analysis for Improving Mobility Convenience for the Transportation-Disadvantaged," the supply rate of low-floor buses was confirmed to be low compared to the original plan. According to the "3rd Plan for Improving Mobility Convenience for the Transportation-Disadvantaged: 2017-2021," which ended last year, the supply rate of low-floor buses should have been 42.0%, but the actual nationwide supply rate was 30.6%.

The Budget Office explained that the reason for the lag behind the original target is "because an appropriate scale of budget allocation to achieve the legal plan's goals has not been made." To achieve the 3rd plan, 431.7 billion KRW was needed, but the actual budget allocated was only 236.4 billion KRW.

Currently, vehicle introduction costs are covered by national subsidy projects, but local governments with insufficient project funds fail to introduce the planned vehicles, resulting in significant differences by province. In Seoul, the supply rate of low-floor buses reaches 59.7%, but in Chungnam it remains at 9.9%. In Gyeonggi Province, the supply rate was only 19.2%, and Ulsan showed 12.1%.

In particular, in Ulsan and Chungcheongbuk-do, despite the improvement plan, the supply rate of low-floor buses recently decreased compared to 2017. This is because the increase in the number of low-floor buses was less than the increase in city buses, causing the overall ratio to drop.

Plan for Improving Mobility Convenience for Transportation Vulnerable Groups: Achievement Status of Low-Floor City Bus Performance 2007~2021
(Data: National Assembly Budget Office)

Because related projects have focused only on city buses, the supply rates for village buses and rural buses are minimal. Only 3.9% of village buses and 1.5% of rural buses have been replaced with low-floor buses.

A Budget Office official stated, "The transportation-disadvantaged population is expected to increase further with the deepening of the aging society, and the issue of guaranteeing mobility rights for the transportation-disadvantaged is a task our society must solve from the perspective of aging policy, along with resolving the current social issue of mobility rights for the disabled." The official added, "Rather than dividing the issue into a conflict structure between disabled and non-disabled, it is necessary to recognize that everyone will face mobility restrictions at some point in life, making this a matter of guaranteeing universal human rights." The official also said, "The policy introduced to resolve mobility restrictions for the transportation-disadvantaged has instead resulted in discriminatory services depending on the residential area of the transportation-disadvantaged. Therefore, it is necessary to manage financial projects considering local fiscal capacity and the proportion of transportation-disadvantaged individuals."

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