Seodaemun-gu Establishes New Village Bus Route Passing Through Nam and Buk Gajwa 2-dong

'Seodaemun 15-beon' Village Bus Service to Start from 19th to Improve Residents' Transportation Convenience

A pre-simulation of the new village bus route conducted by Seodaemun-gu in July last year. District Mayor Moon Seok-jin (left) participated to inspect various checkpoints and gather residents' opinions.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced that the newly established village bus route ‘Seodaemun 15’ will begin its first operation at 6 a.m. on the 19th.

This is the first new village bus route in Seodaemun-gu in 26 years since the opening of the ‘Seodaemun 04’ village bus in 1994.

In a 2018 village bus demand survey, the district found that residents of Namgajwa 2-dong and Bukgajwa 2-dong experienced significant transportation inconveniences, leading to the full-scale promotion of the new route since last year.

In fact, this area was inconvenient for public transportation, as residents had to take a city bus for more than 20 minutes detouring or walk 1.5 km to reach the subway or main roads.

The district collected opinions from residents and stakeholders, underwent review by the Seodaemun-gu Village Bus Route Adjustment Committee, and obtained approval from Seoul City, selecting a village bus operator in November last year.

The new route starts at Jeungsan Station (Jeungsan 2-gyo) stop and ends at Myongji University Rear Gate stop, passing through Bukgajwa Intersection, Bukgajwa Senior Welfare Center, Myongji College, Bukgajwa Doosan We’ve Apartments, and Bukgajwa Five-way Intersection.

The round-trip route covers 4 km with a total of 24 stops, operating about 90 times a day from 6 a.m. to midnight with intervals of 10 to 12 minutes.

This will greatly improve transportation convenience not only for local travel but also for nearby residents transferring to the subway or city buses. A trial operation will be conducted for two days on the 17th and 18th before official service begins.

Generally, establishing a new village bus route faces many challenges due to conflicting interests among residents, but in this Seodaemun-gu case, the majority of residents near the route supported it, allowing for smooth implementation.

To this end, the district actively reflected residents’ opinions through briefings and public hearings, continuously proposing reasonable new routes, stop locations, and reorganization plans for parking spaces near the route.

In particular, the mayor and residents boarded the vehicle together for a pre-simulation drive, checking road conditions, stop intervals, noise impact, and smooth passing to actively practice field-centered administration.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, stated, “In addition to this new route, we will reorganize village bus routes connecting public transportation blind spots with a user-centered approach to resolve residents’ transportation inconveniences and enable smoother movement between areas.” For inquiries, contact Seodaemun-gu Office Traffic Administration Division (330-1852).