Uiryeong County in South Gyeongsang Province has seen a 30% year-on-year increase in bus ridership one month after launching the province's first fully public bus operation system. The county opted for a direct municipal operation model rather than expanding subsidies to address structural limitations in rural public transit.
According to county ridership data released Monday, the number of passengers on the "Ppangppang Bus" system reached 30,818 in March, up 7,237 or 30.7% from 23,581 in March last year. The figure exceeds Uiryeong's total population of 24,500 as of last month.
The county has also moved quickly to address complaints raised in the early days of operation. To resolve overcrowding during after-school hours, it split the single 4:30 p.m. bus into two services departing at 4:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.
The first departure was also moved up from 6:40 a.m. to 6:20 a.m. to improve connections with intercity buses departing from Masan. The Sinban departure time was adjusted to 11:10 a.m. to ease transfer difficulties with intercity buses heading toward Hapcheon.
To strengthen on-site response, the county relocated the offices of its Bus Public Operation Task Force and Transportation Policy Team to the public bus terminal. Going forward, it plans to reduce transit blind spots through trunk and branch route restructuring and expansion of demand-responsive transit (DRT).
"It is important to build a transportation system where residents can feel real changes in their daily lives," Uiryeong County Governor Oh Tae-wan said. "We will continue making improvements centered on guaranteeing mobility rights."