On the morning of the 14th, Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, proposed an amendment to the Seoul City ordinance to expand village bus operations at the 172nd Seoul Mayors' Council meeting, but due to Lee Soo-hee, Mayor of Gangdong District, requesting clause improvements and practical concerns raised by Park Jun-hee of Gwanak and Oh Seung-rok of Nowon Districts, no conclusion was reached and further discussions were scheduled.
Choi Ho-gwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor (third from the left), explained the proposal to amend the Seoul City ordinance for the expanded operation of village buses.
[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “While public infrastructure such as roads, parks, and schools are provided alongside large-scale developments like redevelopment, public services such as the introduction of bus routes are not being offered. Therefore, the system needs to be revised so that transportation infrastructure like bus routes can be provided from the early stages of development projects.”
On the morning of the 14th, Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, made this assertion while explaining the proposal to amend the Seoul City ordinance for the expansion of village bus operations at the 172nd Seoul City District Mayors' Council meeting held at the Seoul City Hall conference room.
Mayor Choi, who has been actively voicing opinions such as expanding compensation for flood damage at both the 171st District Mayors' Council held two months ago and the recent meeting, emphasized, “Due to the creation of Yeongdeungpo Shingil New Town, there is a need to expand village bus routes, but it is difficult to introduce new routes because of the overlapping operation section clause in the Seoul City ordinance, which is worsening public transportation inconvenience.”
Accordingly, Mayor Choi proposed that regarding the current ordinance related to the operation system standards of village bus transportation businesses, large-scale development projects such as New Town developments should provide transportation infrastructure simultaneously from the initial stage. However, if a new village bus route is established with a total length of 15 km or less, it should not be subject to proposals for overlapping operation sections with city buses.
In response, Lee Soo-hee, Mayor of Gangdong District, said, “Mayor Choi’s improvement plan seems to include future content, but Gangdong District currently needs to expand village bus routes immediately due to large-scale reconstruction,” and requested a revision resolution.
Regarding this, Park Jun-hee, former Seoul City Council member and Mayor of Gwanak District, and Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon District, said, “Currently, village buses are operated as a public system supported by Seoul City’s budget, so would the autonomous districts be allowed to adjust village bus routes? More in-depth discussion is needed.”
Accordingly, Lee Sung-heon, Chairman of the District Mayors' Council, proposed to “discuss further and decide next time,” concluding the matter.
The issue of village bus routes is sensitive because Seoul City supports the bus public system with city budgets, and if autonomous districts want to take control of the routes, Seoul City might respond, “Then the district should cover the budget.”
From the perspective of Seoul City district mayors, who are closest to the residents and aware of their needs, it appears that although they want to request system improvements, they are caught in a situation where budget shortages prevent them from taking action.
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