2004 Jeju City Public Transport Report: Reform, Accessibility, and Local Bus Routes

Public Transportation in Jeju Is Changing!!

We visited Jeju City, which is being reborn as a public transportation system for its citizens, and introduce it in detail.

From non-step floor buses to LPG buses for eco-friendly urban transport and publicly operated buses for citizen welfare, Jeju City is now in the second year of its public transportation reform...

We explore the future and vision of public transportation from Jeju City, a city dreaming of becoming an advanced transportation city.

Before beginning, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the staff of the Transportation Administration Division of Jeju City Hall, who devoted a great deal of time to helping with photography and providing materials.

I visited Jeju on a three-night, four-day schedule to attend an eco-friendly technology exhibition and visit Jeju City Hall.

While waiting for my flight at Gimpo Airport, I took a few photos, which I would like to introduce here.

First, the first photo shows an aircraft boarding bus inside the airport (Neoplan Flughafenbusse N-9012 / Apron Bus).

Even among aircraft boarding buses (airplane ramp buses), there are some differences between Asiana Airlines and Korean Air.

For non-step-floor models, Asiana Airlines uses the Cobus 3000 made by Contrac, while Korean Air uses Neoplan's Flughafenbusse N-9012 (based on Jeju International Airport; at Gimpo/Incheon International Airport, the higher-grade N-9022 model can also sometimes be found). As for domestic buses, Asiana Airlines has many AM937L buses, while Korean Air has many BS106L buses.

The second photo shows what could be described as a non-step-floor truck. It appears to be a truck that transports in-flight meals onto aircraft. It is a Hyundai Super Truck, and unlike ordinary trucks, its driver's cab is assembled closer to the ground.

Since these are vehicle types that are not easily seen in everyday life, I will briefly introduce them only to this extent and move on.

Here is a brief history of Jeju excerpted from Jeju City Hall.

In ancient times, Jeju Island was known by names such as "Dongyeongju," "Seopra," "Tammora," "Takra," and "Tamna." All of these names mean "island country." According to the Three Clans Myth, Jeju Island's creation legend, in ancient times three divine men called "Go Eul-na," "Yang Eul-na," and "Bu Eul-na" emerged from the ground at "Moheunghyeol" (today's Samseonghyeol), north of Hallasan Mountain, and lived by hunting while wearing animal-skin clothing.

These three divine men welcomed three princesses who came from "Byeongnangguk" by wooden chest to the eastern waters of Jeju Island, bringing seeds of the five grains, calves, foals, and other things, and they married them. From that time on, they began farming with the seeds of the five grains and raising cattle and horses.

As the founding sacred land of Tamna's progenitors, Jeju City later came to be called Jung-myeon of Jeju-gun by combining the walled town centered on Samseonghyeol and 25 natural villages in the mid-mountain area. In 1913, it was renamed Jeju-myeon, Jeju-do, eventually becoming today's Jeju City.

Excerpt: Jeju City Hall website ( http://www.jejusi.go.kr/ )

Jeju Island is the southernmost island and administrative district in Korea. Jeju Island is further divided into Jeju City, Seogwipo City, Bukjeju County, and Namjeju County. Among these, Jeju City is located in the northern center of Jeju Island.

About 300,000 people, or 53.5% of Jeju Island's total population, live in Jeju City. With Jeju International Airport and various administrative institutions gathered there, it is no exaggeration to call it the administrative capital of Jeju Island.

For more detailed information about Jeju City, please refer to the Jeju City Hall website ( http://www.jejusi.go.kr/ ).

The city bus operators in Jeju City are Daehwa Passenger and Samyoung Transportation. Daehwa Passenger is responsible for regular city buses and operates about 160 buses on 53 routes. Samyoung Transportation is responsible for airport seated buses and operates about 70 buses on five routes. Public buses operated directly by Jeju City run 17 buses on seven routes.

The regular bus fare in Jeju City is 650 won, and the fare for airport seated buses is 700 won. There is not much difference between regular and seated fares, and recently all regular city buses are also being delivered with seated-style seats.

Jeju City has a serious concentration on certain routes, with the route overlap rate exceeding 50% on the City Hall ~ Jeju National University section. It is easy to understand if you think that one out of every two buses is heading to Jeju National University.

The reason for such heavy route concentration is that the City Hall ~ Girls' High School ~ Jeju National University ~ College of Industry section is connected by a single road, the 5.16 Road, and four middle and high schools and two universities are concentrated along this section.

As a result, in the morning there are almost not enough buses because of students going to school, while during the daytime there is the unusual sight of buses carrying only one or two passengers each.

Recently, Jeju City has been looking for various alternatives to solve this problem, but it has not yet found a suitable result.

Jeju City currently operates three non-step floor buses. All of them were purchased with the full vehicle purchase cost funded by Jeju City Hall. Unlike most cases, where only the additional cost compared with a regular city bus is subsidized, Jeju City funded the full purchase cost of the vehicles.

All three are Daewoo Bus BS120CN models equipped with diesel engines rather than CNG engines.

Of the three buses, one is operating on Samyoung Transportation route 100, while the other two are operated by Daehwa Passenger.

Jeju City Hall separately marked the stops where low-floor buses stop. Asphalt was overlaid, and colored pavement was applied on top.

There are several reasons for doing this and several effects it aims to achieve.

1. To indicate that it is a low-floor bus stop; 2. To help drivers recognize the correct stopping position; 3. To prevent the wheelchair boarding ramp from being obstructed by a high sidewalk; 4. To serve as a warning sign to prevent illegal parking by passenger cars; 5. To reduce costs compared with lowering the sidewalk, and so on.

A single construction measure is producing several different effects.

The photo above shows a non-step floor bus operating on Samyoung Transportation route 100. Route 100 operates between Halla College, Jeju Airport, the Intercity Bus Terminal, and the International Passenger Terminal.

Route 100 buses operate at an average interval of 10 minutes, while the non-step floor bus operating on route 100 runs at 100-minute intervals.

Because it is equipped with a diesel engine, the fuel tank is located under the body, between the right front wheel and the middle exit door.

Because of the fuel tank space, this section is raised slightly upward.

Other than that, there is no major difference from the CNG vehicles operating in Seoul.

The vehicles shown above are non-step floor buses that will be operated by Daehwa Passenger.

They are scheduled to operate at 120-minute intervals on route 60 (Halla College ~ Sinjeju ~ Jungang-ro ~ City Hall ~ College of Industrial Information) and at 130-minute intervals on route 25-1 (Bonggae ~ Samyang ~ Jungang-ro ~ College of Industrial Information).

The average interval on route 60 is about 25 to 30 minutes, and the average interval on route 25-1 is about 15 minutes.

They are probably in service by now, but when MTS visited on March 29, the buses had arrived only one day earlier and did not even have license plates attached yet.

The diesel fuel filler and the label on the rear of the vehicle indicating that an exhaust-gas purification device is installed.

The non-step floor buses are currently being deployed first on routes that pass through Chungang Welfare Center for the Disabled, Jeju Medical Center Dementia Hospital, Jeju Airport, and the International Passenger Terminal.

Jeju City plans to continue introducing non-step floor buses to provide convenience for people with reduced mobility, thereby promoting the revitalization of public transportation. Since they can also carry more passengers than regular buses, the city believes they can be used effectively during school commuting hours as well.

Jeju City currently operates 17 public buses directly through City Hall.

There are seven routes, and the route list is as follows.

1. Hoecheon/Myeongdoam route 2. Yonggang route 3. Yeongpyeong/Hwangsapyeong route 5. Odeung/Jeongsil route 6. Haean route 7. Dopyeong/Sasu route 8. Livestock Complex route

Of the 17 buses, 15 are mid-size buses and the remaining two are LPG buses.

These LPG buses are not equipped with the recently developed LPLi-type engines, but are vehicles that were imported in the early period.

A bus formerly operated on Samyoung Transportation route 500 and a bus used in Namyangju City were converted to Jeju City public buses and are now in operation.

The photo shows an LPG bus parked at the public bus depot. This vehicle currently has a ruptured engine piston and is waiting for parts replacement. However, because it is not a domestically produced engine, a considerable amount of time was being lost on maintenance. It seems necessary to introduce buses equipped with domestically developed LPLi engines as soon as possible.

Jeju City's public buses are managed and operated by the Transportation Administration Division of Jeju City Hall.

Inside, anti-slip mats have been installed, and reclining seats have been fitted. The seat covers come in white and yellow; the yellow seats are designated as priority seats for elderly and vulnerable passengers.

Public bus drivers wear yellow uniforms so that they can be distinguished from regular bus drivers.

It is clear that considerable care has been taken in many ways.

Jeju City Hall is proud that citizens do not scribble on the buses or tear the seats because the buses are operated with the taxes they themselves have paid. In fact, I could not help being surprised to see that there were no traces of graffiti on the white seat covers.

Both the citizens who use the buses and the City Hall that operates them seemed to be showing a mature public transportation culture.

There can be several different ways to operate public buses.

They can be operated directly by City Hall, or operation can be entrusted to the private sector. In cases of private consignment, methods include supporting vehicle purchase costs or providing operating subsidies.

Public ownership makes it possible to establish efficient plans for public transportation and to provide the greatest possible consideration for people with reduced mobility. However, public ownership is not always entirely positive. Because the pressure to generate profit is reduced, efficiency may decline and operating costs may increase; fare increases may become difficult, which in turn can increase the city's financial burden.

It is difficult to say definitively which method is best. What matters is that each region develops a system suited to its own characteristics.

Because Jeju City does not operate that many buses compared with other cities, operating public buses on some routes can be considered desirable. It is even more necessary in the outskirts of the city, where population density is low and transportation demand is extremely limited.

Through the Korea Transport Institute, Jeju City conducted a feasibility study on the introduction of public buses and launched the public bus system after thoroughly reviewing the matter.

Jeju City decided to operate its public buses directly through City Hall. A dedicated public bus department was newly established within City Hall to manage the system so that it can operate efficiently.

Because the buses are operated directly by City Hall, bus service is focused on citizen welfare and there are no arbitrary trip cancellations. In addition, because drivers were made to understand the purpose of the public bus system from the time they were selected, their work attitude is also at a satisfactory level.

If the service had been entrusted to a regular private company, the results might not have been the same as they are now.

The results of a citizen survey related to public bus operation are as follows.

Most citizens who use the public buses said they were satisfied. In addition, regarding how public buses and private buses should be developed in the future, 82% responded that public and private buses should develop together, showing that Jeju citizens have high expectations for public buses.

Public Bus Route System Diagram

Excerpted from the Jeju City Hall website ( http://www.jejusi.go.kr/ )

Click a route number to view the detailed timetable.

Jeju City is currently attempting to transform its public transportation.

In 2004, entering the second year of public bus operation, the goal is to become a more loved and trusted public bus service. Another goal for this year is to reduce the deficit as much as possible.

Jeju Island is making many preparations related to public transportation. It is seeking alternatives to establish a more convenient route system and to enable more efficient bus operation.

Introducing public buses is not an easy task, because they must be operated while accepting losses from the beginning. In addition, each region has its own characteristics, so the most important thing is to operate a bus system suited to the local area. Just because public buses have achieved great results in a neighboring city does not mean they will achieve the same results in our own city.

I hope Jeju City's public buses will offer a glimpse into the future of public transportation in Korea.

With the hope that Jeju City will become an advanced public transportation city, I will conclude here.

Lastly, I would like to thank Jeju City Hall for preparing so many materials.