‘Paju Student-Only Commuter Shuttle Bus Paprika’ Awarded the Minister of the Interior and Safety Prize

At the Local Regulatory Innovation Best Practice Competition

On the 26th, Paju City in Gyeonggi Province announced that it received the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award (Encouragement Prize) at the '2024 Local Regulatory Innovation Best Practices Competition' held on the 24th at EXCO in Daegu.

The 'Local Regulatory Innovation Best Practices Competition' has been held annually since 2018 to discover cases of achievements that resolve corporate difficulties and public inconveniences through regulatory innovation and attract private investment, and to share and spread them to local governments nationwide.

In this competition, among 105 regulatory innovation cases selected through the first preliminary screening, the final 17 cases were chosen as excellent cases through cross-review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and provincial governments, as well as expert evaluations. Among them, Paju City received the Encouragement Prize along with a commendation from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

To improve the commuting conditions of students who suffer from a lack of public transportation and long-distance commuting, Paju City expanded the existing limited license system and launched a student-only school bus operating between local schools and key bus stops. For the first time nationwide, the school bus applied youth fares for village buses and introduced a transfer system, achieving a revolutionary improvement in the student commuting environment.

Paju City's best practice was also selected as the grand prize (1st place) and an excellent case of shadow and behavioral regulation improvement through proactive administration at the Gyeonggi Province City and County Regulatory Innovation Best Practices Competition held in June.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to produce and distribute a collection of best practices and promotional videos containing the regulatory innovation process and achievements to local governments nationwide to facilitate the spread of these excellent cases across the country.