Osan Mayor Jo Yong-ho Requests Increase in Metropolitan Buses at Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Osan Mayor Jo Yong-ho visited the Metropolitan Area Broad Transit Committee (hereinafter MABTC) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 25th and held a meeting to propose major transportation issues for Osan City.
The meeting was attended by Mayor Jo Yong-ho, Kim Yong-seok, chairman of the Metropolitan Area Broad Transit Committee, and other key officials including the director of the Metropolitan Transportation Policy Division and the director of the Metropolitan Bus Division.
Mayor Jo stated, “During the development of Segyo Districts 1 and 2, metropolitan transportation improvement measures were inadequately reflected, causing transportation inconvenience throughout Osan. With the full-scale occupancy of Segyo District 2 and large-scale urban development planned, including Segyo District 3, proactive expansion of the metropolitan transportation network is urgent,” and added, “I hope the MABTC will actively cooperate in establishing measures to resolve citizens' commuting transportation difficulties.”
In response, MABTC Chairman Kim Yong-seok said, “The MABTC is also making efforts to establish improvement measures, including on-site inspections,” and replied, “I will carefully review the details provided by Osan City. I believe we can develop solutions by working together.”
During the formal meeting, Mayor Jo requested active support for major issues including △increased metropolitan buses during commute hours and △expansion of the project funding ratio for the Segyo District 3 metropolitan transportation improvement project.
Regarding the increase in metropolitan buses during commute hours, Osan City emphasized the necessity of increasing commute-time service on a total of four routes: MABTC routes 1311 and 1311B operating to Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station, and Gyeonggi Province routes 5300 and 5200.
Metropolitan buses 1311 and 1311B face insufficient supply relative to demand during commute hours. As a result, instances of buses passing without stopping due to capacity have occurred. It was identified that 5 to 10 instances of buses passing without stopping due to daily capacity issues occur during commute hours.
Mayor Jo stated, “It is urgent to expand the number of trips in response to commuting demand to resolve citizens' transportation inconvenience through increased buses during commute hours,” and emphasized, “If each route increases service by 2 to 4 trips, we anticipate that congestion during commute hours will be significantly alleviated.”
Mayor Jo also requested cooperation in expanding the metropolitan transportation improvement project for Segyo District 3 Public Housing Complex (hereinafter Segyo District 3) and the project funding ratio.
Segyo District 3 is planned to accommodate approximately 33,000 households and approximately 75,000 residents on a scale of about 4.3 million square meters; however, the project implementer's funding ratio for the metropolitan transportation improvement project for Segyo District 3 is approximately 7.6%. Considering that the average project implementer funding ratio for metropolitan transportation improvement projects in other districts is 15 to 20%, and taking into account the scale of development and transportation demand, the metropolitan transportation improvement project funding for Segyo District 3 falls significantly below the average.
Since various metropolitan transportation improvement measures are planned for Segyo District 3, including the installation of underground underpasses at major intersections, securing sufficient project funding is important. Accordingly, Mayor Jo's position is that realizing metropolitan transportation improvement project funding is urgent for Osan's development.