Seoul City Completely Revamps 'Roadside Bus-Only Lanes' After 37 Years Since Introduction

Seoul City is preparing improvement measures for curbside bus-only lanes for the first time in 37 years.

According to Seoul City on the 9th, the city plans to analyze the overall status of curbside bus-only lanes within this year and seek comprehensive improvement measures.

The curbside bus-only lanes, located in the rightmost lane of the road, were piloted in October 1985.

Since they can be installed simply by painting lane markings and it is easy to move lanes or install bus stops, they greatly increased in the 1990s, reaching a total of 60 sections covering 218.9 km in 2000.

However, with the full-scale introduction of central bus-only lanes (BRT) in 2004, some sections were converted to central lanes.

Currently, they operate in a total of 40 sections covering 83.3 km. Among these, 21 sections covering 40.4 km operate full-time, and 19 sections covering 42.9 km operate part-time.

Out of the total 40 sections, 37 have been in operation for over 30 years.

Since traffic conditions have changed significantly due to urban development and amendments to the Road Traffic Act since their introduction, improvements are necessary.

The city will first consider changing sections with increased bus demand from part-time to full-time operation, and abolishing sections where bus demand has decreased or effectiveness is low.

Also, due to amendments to the Road Traffic Act, drivers are increasingly required to stop temporarily or slow down immediately after making a right turn, which may lengthen right-turn waiting queues. Therefore, the city plans to revise guidelines for curbside bus-only lane pavement markings.

Yoon Jong-jang, Director of the Urban Transportation Office of Seoul City, said, "Through a complete overhaul, we will make multifaceted efforts to ensure that curbside bus-only lanes operate in a way that suits citizen convenience and changes in the times."

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