Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Inter-city bus fares to rise next year
Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee speaks at a meeting with bus operators and drivers at the Korea Territorial Development Museum in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Inter-city bus fares are expected to rise around February next year, in a government plan to help bus companies hire more drivers so they can meet the shortened work-hour system.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the plan Thursday. The fares have been frozen for the past five years.
The ministry has not yet decided how much the rise will be.
Intra-city bus fares will not be affected immediately because they are set by agreement between bus operators and each municipality. But the inter-city fare rise is likely to flow on to intra-city buses.
The move comes as bus companies need to abide by the 52-hour week work system from next July. While bus drivers now usually work 16 to 18 hours a day and take a day off by turns, they will not be able to do so under the new system, which allows up to 12 hours of extended hours a week.
To meet the new system, bus companies need to hire more drivers, but they are reluctant to do so, citing financial difficulty. The ministry estimates 7,300 new drivers will be needed, but bus companies have hired only 3,200 so far.
“We plan to relieve their financial burden by raising the fares, which have remained the same for five years,” a ministry official said.
To meet the new labor costs and make up for the companies' losses, a double-digit fare increase is necessary. But it is to be seen whether the ministry will raise fares that much, because the hike will affect bus riders.
“We'll decide on the hike level by taking labor costs, fuel prices and the burden on the public into consideration,” he said.
Intra-city buses will face the same problem when the shortened week work is applied and local governments are expected to increase fares for them.