Gyeonggi Province will increase the city bus fare discount rate for youths in the province from 20% to 30%.
Currently, elementary, middle and high school students in the province have to pay a fare of KRW 1,000 (payment by card) for Gyeonggi Province buses, receiving a discount rate of 20%; however, they pay only KRW 720 when taking Seoul buses with an applied discount rate of 40%.
As youths in Gyeonggi Province pay bus fares that are higher by KRW 280 than those paid by youths in Seoul, the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly has pushed for greater bus fare discount rates for adolescents since 2015, submitting a bill to enforce the greater discounts.
To this end, the assembly also augmented the budget for supporting city bus fare discounts in the main budget by KRW 5.1 billion this year. However, it has faced difficulties in expanding bus fare discounts due to the opposition of bus companies as well as cities and counties in the province.
This is because losses stemming from the greater bus fare discount rates for youths are expected to amount to KRW 15.2 billion (KRW 29.5 billion at a 20% discount rate and KRW 44.7 billion at a 30% discount rate), which will cause a budget burden for bus companies, cities and counties.
However, Gyeonggi Province finally reached an agreement with bus companies, cities and counties on the expansion of discounts through continuous discussions. Half of the losses (KRW 7.6 billion) will be borne by bus companies, and the remaining half by the province and cities/counties at a ratio of 3 to 7.
With the greater discount rates in effect, city bus fares for youths in the province will be reduced by KRW 130 to 200 (KRW 870 for card payment and KRW 900 for cash payment). Shuttle bus fares will decrease to KRW 740 to 810, KRW 100 to 110 lower than current fares.
The greater city bus fare discount rate will be applied as early as the end of May, and in the case of shuttle buses, from July.