Yongin City "Increase Village Bus Operation Rate by 20%"... Support for Improving Transportation Workers' Treatment

100~120 Million KRW for New and Long-term Employees
600,000 KRW Paid to 400 City Bus Workers

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province will provide treatment improvement funds to secure insufficient city and village bus drivers.

On the 19th, Yongin City announced on the 20th that it had signed the 'Yongin City Route Bus Operation Improvement Implementation Agreement' with local transportation companies to improve the treatment of city and village bus drivers and increase the operation rate by more than 20%.

Lee Sang-il (third from the left) Mayor of Yongin City is holding up the agreement document at the 'City and Village Bus Operation Improvement Business Agreement Ceremony' with transportation company officials. Photo by Yongin City

This agreement was made based on the judgment that the intervals between bus dispatches have lengthened due to transportation companies being unable to operate buses because of a shortage of drivers, thereby restricting citizens' mobility rights.

The agreement includes participants such as the joint-stock companies Gyeongnam Passenger, Dongbaek Transportation, Mabuk Transportation; the general partnerships Guseong Transportation, Jukjeon Transportation, Suseong Transportation, Yeonwon Transportation, Hanbi Transportation; as well as Sanghyeon Transportation, Seungjin Passenger, and Yongin Transportation.

According to the agreement, the city plans to establish an action plan to improve route bus operations, select target routes, and provide treatment improvement funds to drivers, among other administrative support measures to enhance bus operations. The transportation industry has pledged to do its best to secure vehicles and recruit drivers to increase the operation rate by 20%.

To this end, the city will support a total of 720 million KRW for driver treatment improvements next year. Starting next year, new drivers who receive training at the city-designated training institution, Namdong e-Samsung Automobile Driving Specialized Academy in Cheoin-gu, and are employed by local transportation companies, will receive 1 million KRW in treatment improvement funds if they work for the same company for more than six months, with support provided to a total of 120 people.

From next year, 300 village bus drivers who have worked for the same transportation company for more than six months will also receive 1.2 million KRW each. Additionally, 400 city bus drivers will each receive 600,000 KRW.

The bus industry has agreed that if job seekers who wish to be employed obtain bus driving qualifications at the city-designated training institution, the city will actively assist them in finding employment with local transportation companies.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin said, "The most frequent complaint is that the intervals between village bus dispatches are too long," adding, "Although the city's financial situation is not easy, we have allocated a budget to support the improvement of bus drivers' treatment with the intention of helping citizens who use public transportation even a little."

Jo Byung-seok, Executive Director of Gyeongnam Passenger, said, "We are grateful that the city has specially considered transportation companies and drivers to help citizens use public transportation," and added, "Next year, we will do our best to maximize bus operation rates to reduce citizens' inconvenience."