Goyang City Establishes Alternative Route After Discontinuation of Customized Bus Route 60

Goyang City Fully Funds New Village Bus
for Areas with Poor Transportation Access
All-Out Effort to Eliminate Transport Gaps

Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) announced on February 6 that, due to Gyeonggi Province’s policy to reduce financial support which has made it unavoidable to discontinue Customized Bus Route 60, the city has taken active measures to minimize inconvenience for residents by funding 100% of the costs from the municipal budget to establish an alternative route and promote the introduction of a new village bus.

Customized Bus Route 60. Provided by Goyang-si

The customized bus program was launched by Gyeonggi Province in 2017 under the name “Ddareung-i Bokji Bus (Ttabok Bus)” to improve mobility for residents in areas with poor access to public transportation, and has been operated with the province and cities sharing the financial burden. The cost-sharing ratio between the province and the city was initially 5:5 and was later adjusted to 3:7, and both the scale and the ratio of support have been determined by Gyeonggi Province.

The customized bus service has limited demand and low profitability, making it difficult for operators to run the routes solely on their own revenue, and financial support is therefore essential to maintain the routes.

However, after Gyeonggi Province indicated its plan to drastically reduce the scale of subsidies for transport loss compensation in 2026, the bus operator withdrew its intention to continue operations, citing the increased burden from growing deficits, and expressed its intention to relinquish its license, making it virtually impossible to maintain the route.

As a result, with practical alternatives difficult to secure, Customized Bus Route 60 was inevitably discontinued at the end of last year.

In particular, the section previously served by Customized Bus Route 60 is an area with very few alternative transportation options and significant inconvenience in terms of transport, and there were concerns that the abolition of the route would infringe on residents’ right to mobility.

In response, Goyang City plans to carefully analyze existing usage demand and travel patterns, design an alternative route that efficiently connects major living areas and transportation hubs, and operate it with a focus on improving user convenience.

An official from Goyang City said, “We examined various options to maintain the route and continued consultations with Gyeonggi Province, but realistic support could not be secured,” adding, “We will continue to place the highest priority on protecting citizens’ right to mobility as we respond going forward.”

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