The district of Geumcheon in Seoul will provide 300,000 won per month to improve the working conditions of village bus drivers due to a shortage.
Geumcheon District announced on the 13th that it will be the first autonomous district in Seoul to promote a project to improve the working conditions of village bus drivers. The aim is to reduce inconveniences for residents by increasing the number of village bus operations. For this project, a partial revision of the 'Geumcheon District local government ordinance on financial support for village buses' was made in February.
According to the revised local government ordinance, Geumcheon District will pay village bus drivers 900,000 won every quarter. The target is drivers who have worked at village bus companies in Geumcheon for more than 50 days over three months.
To facilitate the influx of new village bus drivers, training for 'transportation staff training' will also be conducted. Individuals who hold a first-class large vehicle license and wish to be employed by village bus companies in Geumcheon will be eligible for the training. This year, 23 participants will be recruited, and the training costs will be fully covered by the district budget.
The training will take place at the Seoul Transportation Training Institute, providing theoretical and practical education over 5 days (40 hours). Those who complete the training will be exempt from the requirement of having over one year of driving experience to work as village bus drivers under the Passenger Transport Business Act.
Geumcheon District has prepared these support measures due to the shortage of village bus drivers, which has caused inconveniences for residents. There are six companies operating 84 village buses across 10 routes in Geumcheon. There are currently 144 drivers, but the replenishment rate was only 71.2% as of February this year. This indicates a shortage of about 30% of the needed personnel.
This is because village bus drivers are relatively moving to positions with better working conditions, such as city bus drivers or delivery drivers. As the number of people available to drive village buses has decreased, the intervals between bus services have increased, and congestion within the buses has also heightened.
District Chief Yoo Seong-hoon said, "This project is not just a short-term remedy to respond to the shortage of village bus drivers, but rather a long-term solution that has a systemic foundation," and added, "We will do our best to enhance the transportation convenience for residents."