Jinju City Mobilizes Response to High Oil Price Crisis... Announces Measures for Freight and Transportation Sectors

Expansion of Fuel Subsidies, Additional Buses, and Accelerated Supply of Electric Vehicles
Easing the Burden on the Transport Industry and Reducing Transportation Costs for Citizens

Jinju City is implementing comprehensive measures focused on the freight transportation and traffic sectors to respond to the high oil price crisis caused by the prolonged situation in the Middle East.

On April 16, in the City Hall briefing room, Park Ildong, Vice Mayor, personally held a policy briefing and announced plans to expand fuel subsidies, promote public transportation, and accelerate the supply of electric vehicles as strategies to address the era of high oil prices.

To address the resource security crisis, Jinju City has previously implemented energy-saving policies such as urgently allocating 10 billion won in loans from the Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Fund, reducing nighttime landscape lighting operations, and instituting an alternate-day driving system for public institution vehicles and a five-day rotation for private vehicles.

[Photo provided by Jinju City] On the 16th, Deputy Mayor Il-Dong Park held a press conference in the city hall briefing room to announce measures to overcome high oil prices in the freight transportation and traffic sectors.

However, with international instability continuing to drive up oil prices, the city has prepared additional support measures to ease the direct impact on the freight transport industry and reduce the transportation burden on citizens.

First, to support the freight transportation sector, fuel subsidies will be increased. In line with the government's fuel cost relief policy, the deadline for the oil price-linked subsidy payments will be extended from February to April, and the support rate will be raised from 50% to 70% of the portion exceeding 1,700 won per liter of diesel.

Additionally, the fuel tax reduction rate will be increased from 10% to 25%, and the end date for this measure will be extended from April to May. Accordingly, the city plans to actively support the normal operation of the transportation sector by securing up to an additional 4 billion won for the fuel subsidy budget, which was originally set at 16 billion won.

Measures to promote public transportation will also be implemented. To respond to increased demand for public transportation due to the surge in oil prices, Jinju City will add three city buses circulating between Chojon-dong and Chungmugong-dong during weekday school commute hours starting in May.

Furthermore, new Route 30 and Route 30-1 bus lines will be introduced to distribute the commuting and school transport demand of students and office workers, thereby enhancing transportation convenience.

In addition, in line with government policy, K-Pass transportation card refund benefits will be expanded. For a limited period, the reimbursement rate for rides during staggered commuting hours will be raised to 30%, and the base amount for the "Everyone's Card" will be reduced by 50% compared to the previous level, in order to ease citizens' transportation expenses.

The supply of electric vehicles will also be accelerated. By March this year, the city completed subsidy support for 500 electric passenger vehicles and 100 electric freight vehicles ahead of schedule, and plans to bring forward the supply of an additional 150 passenger vehicles and 100 freight vehicles, originally scheduled for the second half of the year, to May.

Alongside these measures, the city plans to speed up the transition to an eco-friendly transportation system, including requesting an additional 2 billion won in national funding.

Park Ildong, Vice Mayor of Jinju City, stated, "We have established measures for the freight transportation and traffic sectors to overcome the era of high oil prices together with our citizens," adding, "We will do our utmost to ensure that the upcoming Gyeongnam residents' living support payments and high oil price damage compensation are provided swiftly."

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