Agreement Reached After Difficult Negotiations Between Local Governments
Route 1004 Maintained, New Routes Established and Increased Service
Four of the seven city bus routes running between Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam, and Busan-si will be discontinued in June.
According to Gimhae-si on the 23rd, routes ▲124 ▲125 ▲128-1 ▲221 will be abolished.
The existing routes ▲1004 ▲123 ▲127 will continue to operate as usual.
The city will establish new routes ▲913 (Bulamdong~Deokcheon Station) ▲911 (Samgye~Buwon Station~Deokcheon Station) ▲912 (Samgye~Inje University~Deokcheon Station) to replace the discontinued routes.
Two additional buses will be added to route ▲220 (Pungyudong~Hadan Station).
According to the city, in early January, Busan-si notified Gimhae-si that five routes passing through Gimhae would operate only until the end of April this year, as Busan-si relocated its city bus depot from Busan Gusan-dong to Gangseo-gu, Busan.
Currently, three Busan city bus companies operate 93 city buses on seven routes between Gimhae and Busan.
The five routes scheduled for discontinuation operate 60 buses with 280 trips daily.
The city has been in discussions with Busan-si regarding the timing of route discontinuation and the turnaround points for replacement routes but failed to reach an agreement, leading to difficulties including filing a mediation request with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Earlier this month, the two local governments agreed to mutually allow ▲route 1004 to remain among the five routes scheduled for discontinuation, ▲the turnaround point for Gimhae’s three replacement routes to be Deokcheon Station, and ▲the establishment of a new Busan city bus route from Samgye to Myeongji.
The timing of route discontinuation was tentatively agreed to be in June, with final confirmation pending the completion of Busan-si’s Gangseo depot and Gimhae-si’s procedures for operating replacement routes.
The city plans to cancel the mediation request filed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport against Busan-si.
To expedite the establishment of replacement routes, the city began recruiting bus operators on the 10th and plans to start operations in June.
The two local governments will finalize the operation sections, number of buses, operating hours, and intervals of the new routes through working-level consultations, and will announce the reorganization plan including the abolition and timing of the metropolitan transfer fare system to the public, preparing for the new route system.
A city official said, “There were difficulties such as the mediation request to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport due to significant differences with Busan before reaching an agreement, but we found a compromise through mutual understanding and concession. We hope this will serve as a model of cooperation between local governments and a positive signal for establishing the metropolitan transportation system of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam area, which shares a single living zone.”
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