Daejeon City Council Member Park Juhwa: "The Number of Free City Bus Rides for Those Aged 70 and Over Should Be Limited"

"Need to Ease Fiscal Burden as Elderly Population Increases"

Meeting scene of the Industrial Construction Committee of Daejeon City Council / City Council

The Daejeon Metropolitan Council's Industry and Construction Committee reviewed three ordinance bills under the jurisdiction of the Transportation Bureau, the Railway Construction Bureau, and the Urban Railway Construction Bureau, as well as the 2025 Daejeon City budget bill, on the 26th.

At the meeting, Vice Chair Kim Youngsam (People Power Party, Seogu 2) reviewed the budget for purchasing special transportation vehicles (vehicles equipped with wheelchair lifts and similar facilities) and pointed out, "Daejeon ranks sixth out of the seven major metropolitan cities in terms of the adoption rate of special transportation vehicles." He emphasized, "The budget supporting the mobility of transportation-vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly should be prioritized over other budget items."

Park Juhwa (People Power Party, Junggu 1) reviewed the free transportation support program for seniors over 70 and raised the need for a limit on the currently unlimited free city bus rides. Park stated, "As the population of seniors over 70 is expected to increase every year, it is necessary to alleviate the city's financial burden by limiting the number of free rides," and requested that the support program be pursued from a long-term perspective.

Kim Seongwang (People Power Party, Junggu 2) pointed out, "Permission for free advertisements at city bus shelters was originally granted to private companies on the condition that they clean the shelters," and criticized, "It is inappropriate to include cleaning service costs for shelters with free advertisements in the budget."

Song Hwalseop (Independent, Daedeokgu 2) received a report on the progress of the Yuseong Complex Terminal construction project, which has a total project cost of 44.1 billion KRW, and said, "Since 8.7 billion KRW, about 20% of the total project cost, will be financed through local bonds, measures to secure fiscal soundness in the future must also be prepared."

On this day, three ordinance bills, including the "Partial Amendment Ordinance for the Daejeon City Free Transportation Support for Seniors," were passed as originally proposed.