Gimhae~Busan City Bus Newly Starting from June 17

4 Lines Closed, 3 New Lines Established, 1 Line Expanded

Some city bus routes between Gimhae, Gyeongnam and Busan will cease operation and be reorganized starting June 17.

According to Gimhae City on the 16th, the discontinued routes are Busan city buses ▲124 ▲125 ▲128-1 ▲221.

The city will establish new routes ▲911 ▲912 ▲913 to replace them and increase the number of buses on route ▲220 by two.

Route 1004, which was originally scheduled to be discontinued, will be reduced from 17 to 9 buses, but the late-night bus service will continue for the convenience of citizens.

The turnaround point for the replacement routes in Busan has been confirmed as Deokcheon Station, and Busan City has notified that the discontinuation will take effect at midnight on June 16, considering Gimhae City's preparation status.

Gimhae City Hall, Gyeongnam. [Photo by Gimhae City Hall]

As a result, there are a total of 14 routes operating between Gimhae and Busan, including Busan buses ▲123 ▲127 and Gimhae buses ▲8 ▲8-1 ▲70 ▲73 ▲4 ▲6, with 84 buses running 482 trips.

This is a reduction of 27 buses and 48 trips compared to before the reorganization, when 14 routes with 111 buses operated 530 trips.

The key reorganized routes 911, 912, and 913 are about 8 to 18 km shorter than the previous routes 124, 128-1, and 125, but the intervals between buses will increase by about 8 to 20 minutes.

The city anticipates some inconvenience for citizens traveling to Busan who will need to transfer to other routes or the light rail, and plans to minimize inconvenience by providing as much guidance as possible on alternative routes and transfer options.

A city official said, “This reorganization was finalized through negotiations with Busan City based on a replacement route study conducted last year. If it is judged that additional buses are needed during operation, we plan to increase the number of buses on some existing routes to resolve the issue.”

Gimhae City has begun full-scale publicity to minimize confusion among citizens before the final reorganization date.

Previously, Mayor Hong Taeyong held an explanatory meeting for citizen representatives and set up a promotional booth during the Gaya Cultural Festival to inform the public.

During the remaining period, the city plans to inform the public through local media and broadcasts, post banners, posters, and flyers at public places such as each eup, myeon, and dong office, schools, bus stops, and inside and outside city buses, and distribute informational leaflets to citizens.

▲ Use of bus information systems at bus stops and large electronic display boards operated by the city ▲ Online promotion through the Gimhae City Transportation Information Center website, city-operated blogs, Instagram, and KakaoStory ▲ Inclusion of QR codes linking to the Gimhae City Transportation Information Center website on offline promotional materials ▲ Apartment and village broadcasts ▲ Advertisements in the Gimhae City newsletter will also be conducted.

In particular, employees from the city’s Public Transportation Department and drivers who will operate the new routes will go out to major streets to explain the reorganization and conduct a safe driving campaign.

Park Jinyong, head of the Public Transportation Department, said, “Last year, we spent more than 80 billion won to cover deficits for the light rail and city buses, and this year it is expected to exceed 90 billion won. We deeply regret that we cannot deploy more buses due to the withdrawal of Busan city buses. We will do our best to promote the changes as much as possible during the remaining period and promptly correct any shortcomings that arise during actual operation to minimize inconvenience to citizens.”

Busan City and Gimhae City plan to improve transportation convenience between Gimhae and western Busan by first establishing route 122 connecting Samgye and Myeongji New Town during this reorganization, and then introducing route 914 operating between Jangyu and Myeongji New Town in October.

Additionally, they have reached a basic agreement to abolish the metropolitan transfer fare to reduce the fare burden caused by transfers, and will finalize the details after technical consultations.