Gwangju City significantly revises city bus route reorganization plan, reflecting citizen opinions

As citizen complaints and concerns poured in over the plan to reorganize city bus routes in the Gwangju area, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City reorganized about half of all routes.

The original reform plan focused on improving operational efficiency by straightening routes, but the direction of the reform was revised by more than half in response to requests to directly connect new apartments with existing living areas such as schools, hospitals, and markets.

According to the Unified City on the 24th, the city received 5,912 citizen opinions on the city bus route reorganization plan through public hearings and online and offline opinions in autonomous districts from the 3rd to the 16th of last month.

The most opinions were requests to establish or extend routes in new apartment complexes such as Cheomdan District 3, Jungoe Park, We Park, and Hyocheon District, reaching 2,166.

A total of 1,512 requests were made to connect major living bases such as schools, universities, hospitals, markets, and terminals.

These two demands amounted to 60% of all opinions, and it was analyzed that the demand to maintain accessibility to existing living areas is as big as the speed of movement and efficiency during the reorganization process.

In response to citizen demands, the integrated city has made significant adjustments to the route route, start and end points, and integration/separation methods.

Number 1001 changed its route to connect Chonnam National University and Gwangju General Bus Terminal, and number 1003 changed its starting and ending points to improve accessibility to Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital.

Routes that pass through or connect new residential areas such as Gakhwa Hillstate and Yongsan District have also been strengthened.

Routes 17 and 17-1, 58 and 58-1, and 61 and 61-1 were recombined, and some sections excluded from the reorganization were adjusted to operate on other routes instead.

Some requests to connect living areas were not accepted.

The request for No. 1003 to stop in the Seongyo district was excluded on the grounds that the express bus function may be impaired, and the request for Suwan No. 03 to be restored to its original state was also not reflected due to the working conditions of transport workers and safe operation issues along the long line.

The new route via Bi-dong and Bonryang-dong-Suwan district was also not reflected due to the entry of large buses, increased dispatch intervals, and vehicle and terrain conditions.

After the reorganization, the total number of routes will increase by 12 from the current 103 to 115, and the average dispatch interval will decrease by 4.5 minutes from 25.2 minutes to 20.7 minutes.

The goal of increasing the number of trips per day by 961 from 8,394 to 9,355 was maintained.

The city plans to revise the route map and Bus Information System (BIS) by the end of this month, obtain approval for business plan changes and organize timetables, and implement the revised routes on October 31.

An official from the integrated city transportation headquarters said, "Even after the implementation of the reform plan, we plan to monitor usage conditions and complaints for three months to supplement additional routes."