[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] 'Bus fares frozen, taxi fare increase postponed, urban railway fares increased'
Gyeonggi Province will freeze bus fares at 1,450 won considering the low-income economy amid high inflation. This is the fourth consecutive year of fare freeze since the fare increase in 2019. The taxi fare increase scheduled for March by 1,000 won is being considered to be postponed until after July due to analyses showing a heavy burden on low-income residents.
However, the province views a fare increase as inevitable for urban railways in cities such as Uijeongbu and Yongin, where deficits are snowballing due to 'free rides' for seniors aged 65 and over, and is pushing for a 200 won increase.
According to Gyeonggi Province and local governments on the 16th, the province decided to freeze bus fares at the current 1,450 won. The province has not raised fares for four years since increasing from 1,250 won to 1,450 won based on transportation card usage in September 2019.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon pledged during last year's local elections to "reduce Gyeonggi Province city bus fares by 200 won to the level of Seoul." The finalized 295 pledges confirmed last month also included "alleviating the burden of city bus fares."
The province expects a 'fare reversal phenomenon' if Seoul raises bus fares as expected while Gyeonggi Province freezes them.
Governor Kim said in a phone interview on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 15th, "In the previous (provincial council) policy speech, I raised the topics of people's livelihood and the future, and among them, I said I would freeze bus fares as one aspect of people's livelihood," emphasizing, "Bus fares are essential living expenses not only for vulnerable groups but also for the middle class."
The province also decided to postpone the 1,000 won taxi fare increase from March to after July.
Earlier, through a public hearing last month and opinions from the Gyeonggi Provincial Council earlier this month, the base fare was decided to be reduced from the current 2 km to 1.6 km and the fare increased from 3,800 won to 4,800 won by 1,000 won. Additionally, the distance fare will be 100 won per 131 meters, the time fare 100 won per 30 seconds, and the late-night surcharge application time will be extended by two hours from the previous 0:00?4:00 AM to 10:00 PM?4:00 AM the next day.
The province planned to finalize the fare increase plan at the Consumer Policy Deliberation Committee early next month and apply it as early as March. However, considering the recent difficult economic conditions, the increase timing was postponed to the second half of the year.
However, regarding urban railway fares, the province is reviewing a plan to raise the current 1,250 won by 200 won to 1,450 won. This is based on the judgment that it is difficult to bear the annual deficit of about 10 billion won caused by free rides for seniors aged 65 and over.
The loss from free rides on urban railways in the province reached a total of 39.5 billion won over the past four years: 8.3 billion won in 2018, 10.3 billion won in 2019, 9.7 billion won in 2020, and 11.2 billion won in 2021.
Although the loss from free rides approaches 10 billion won annually, the government completely cut the 358.5 billion won budget support for local government losses in this year's budget proposal.
Accordingly, from the 16th to the 27th of last month, the province conducted a fare increase survey targeting local governments operating urban railways such as Uijeongbu, Yongin, Gimpo, Hanam, and Bucheon. The results showed that all five local governments agreed that a fare increase is inevitable to reduce the urban railway deficit.
The province plans to hold a second working-level meeting this month with related organizations such as Seoul City, Incheon City, and Korea Railroad Corporation to discuss the level of urban railway fare increases.
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