Uiwang City Village Bus Fares to Increase by 100 Won Starting January Next Year

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Chung-young] Uiwang City announced on the 12th that it will increase village bus fares for general passengers by 100 won starting from the first bus on January 1st next year, after the fares had been frozen since 2019.

The city held a Consumer Policy Deliberation Committee meeting in November and decided on fare increases based on transportation cards: △general passengers 1,350 won→1,450 won (↑100 won) △youth 950 won→1,010 won (↑60 won) △children 680 won→730 won (↑50 won).

The city stated that since the COVID-19 pandemic, village bus ridership has declined while transportation costs such as labor and fuel expenses have surged, making a fare increase inevitable for stable village bus operations amid deteriorating management conditions for transport operators and demands for improved treatment of village bus workers.

However, the city notes that the metropolitan integrated transfer fare system applies the highest fare among the transportation modes used as the basic fare, so this village bus fare increase is not expected to place direct financial burden on citizens using transfers.

A city official stated, "In addition to this fare increase, we will strengthen administrative guidance to do our best in improving convenience for village bus users."