Plans for 19 additional vehicles;
 28 vehicles to operate in total 

◇ Gyeonggi Province announced that
it plans to add 19 more double-decker buses in five cities including Gimpo,
Ansan, Namyangju, Suwon, and Paju. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-news
Yoo Je-hoon

Gyeonggi Province plans to add
19 more double-decker buses in five cities including Gimpo, Ansan, Namyangju,
Suwon, and Paju during the latter half of 2016.

The province introduced
double-decker buses for the first time in Korea to reduce the number of standing
passengers on intercity buses last October. At present, it operates a total of
nine buses on five routes including six vehicles on the Gimpo-Seoul City Hall
route (4 buses for route no. 8601, 2 buses for route no. 8600), and three buses
for the Namyangju-Jamsil route (1 bus each for route nos. 1000-2, 8012, 8002). 

This year, Gyeonggi Province
plans to add a total of ten buses including one for the Suwon-Sadang Station
route, one for the Suwon-Gangnam Station route, two for the Namyangju-Jamsil
route, and six for the Gimpo-Seoul City Hall route by August. In addition,
although the exact route has yet to be confirmed, the provincial government will
operate nine more buses by this October.  

The province also plans to ask
the central government to provide national funds and to amend regulations so as
to promote double-decker buses.  

Currently, the Gyeonggi Provincial
Government, transportation companies, and each city and county each pay KRW 150
million to cover the KRW 450 million cost of each double-decker bus.
Considering the difficult financial conditions faced by municipal governments,
Gyeonggi Province maintains that support from the national budget is urgently
needed in order to increase the number of double-decker buses, which are more
expensive than regular buses.  

Gyeonggi Province also asserted
the need for double-decker buses to be recognized as low-floor buses. At
present, the double-decker buses in operation were constructed as low-floor
buses so to make them more convenient for the disabled and senior citizens.
However, these vehicles are not officially recognized as low-floor buses
because they do not comply with carriage height regulations for standard
low-floor bus models as stipulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport. 

Among all intercity buses
operated by municipal governments, Gyeonggi Province’s double-decker
intercity bus is the only low-floor M bus approved by the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport. Other regular city low-floor buses receive KRW 50
million in national funds; this amounts to a quarter of vehicle cost according
to the Law on Improving the Convenience of Transit for Transportation
Minorities. 

A Gyeonggi Province official
said, “Reducing
the number of standing passengers on intercity buses is directly linked to the
safety of passengers. Since increasing the number of double-decker intercity
buses contributes to the sphere of intercity movement for transportation
minorities, we need the active nationwide support including contributions from
national funds for vehicle costs and recognition as low-floor buses.

ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News | Lee Jun-kyun eyekle@hanmail.net

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201603081348307055C048&s_code=C048