BUSAN — The average wait for a city bus in Busan has passed 10 minutes, and with public transport service steadily deteriorating, calls are growing for the city's incoming administration to strengthen "transport welfare" that residents can feel immediately, alongside its large-scale metropolitan transport network projects.
According to materials released on the 26th by the Busan Public Transport Future Forum for its 15th regular forum, the average peak-hour headway for city buses in Busan widened by more than three minutes, from 7.73 minutes in 2012 to 10.74 minutes in 2024. Over the same period, the total number of weekday trips per route fell 31%, from 122.33 to 84.48. The structure inevitably leads to fewer bus riders and greater reliance on cars. City buses' share of trips indeed fell 2.8 percentage points, to 18.8% in 2024 from 21.6% in 2012.
The forum noted in particular that if Busan's public transport policy tilts toward large infrastructure projects such as urban and metropolitan rail, it will be difficult to resolve the daily waiting and transfer inconvenience residents experience. The materials identified shorter bus headways, more downtown transfer centers, route efficiency improvements and expanded demand-responsive transport (DRT) as core tasks for public transport policy under the incoming administration.
The number of bus routes in Busan rose to 147 in 2024 from 132 in 2012, but the average route length grew 13%, to 51.37 kilometers from 45.44 kilometers. As routes stretched with development and redevelopment on the city's outskirts, the number of trips declined, producing the paradox of more routes but fewer buses arriving.
The transfer system was also cited as an urgent task. Busan has a user-oriented transfer system, including free transfers between buses and urban rail, but a shortage of downtown transfer centers makes the actual transfer process inconvenient, according to the analysis. As of 2024, Busan had 3,861 city bus stops but only 41 smart shelters, leaving riders exposed during heat waves, heavy rain and other severe weather.
DRT is drawing attention as an alternative to fill gaps in public transport coverage. Busan's "Tabara" service recorded 285,773 cumulative rides and 375,723 passengers over the 34 months from September 2023 through June this year. Average wait times were cut 46%, to 7.4 minutes from 13.7 minutes on conventional fixed-route buses. About 43% of total demand was concentrated between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., which the analysis said complemented gaps in time and space that regular route buses failed to cover.
Speakers also argued for a larger role for district-level governments. Of 658 campaign pledges made by the heads of Busan's 16 districts and counties, 110 were in transport and logistics, and 58 of those concerned public transport. But only 23 of them, or 39.7%, could be carried out within their terms using district budgets and administrative measures alone. The remaining 35, or 60.3%, required decisions by the Busan Metropolitan Government or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, including new or extended urban rail lines, KTX stops and adjustments to city bus routes.
For community buses in particular, financial support centered on the metropolitan government has its limits, so a dual support system in which the city and the districts and counties divide roles and funding was proposed as an alternative. The Busan Metropolitan Government covers only 20% to 30% of community bus operators' losses from free transfers, leaving chronic deficits in the industry and rigid supply under the vehicle quota system as problems.
Participants also called for the incoming administration to pursue metropolitan transport networks and transport policies residents can feel at the same time. Along with large projects such as the 30-minute and 60-minute living zones for Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province proposed by the transition committee, undergrounding the Gaya-Busanjin section of the Gyeongbu Line, a fare overhaul closer to daily life and expanded bus rapid transit, policies to shorten headways on existing buses and improve transfer convenience should be pursued simultaneously.
The success of the incoming administration's public transport policy will ultimately hinge less on how much rail and road it builds than on how much more convenient it makes the buses and community buses residents use every day. The forum presented putting people's livelihoods first and guaranteeing mobility for transport-vulnerable groups as core values of public transport policy, and called for a policy shift that convinces residents public transport is faster, more convenient and more economical than driving.
The Busan Public Transport Future Forum held the event at the Busan Ilbo building that day to discuss the direction of the city's public transport policy and the future of transport services residents can feel. Attendees included Jeon Seon-im, head of the Busan Metropolitan Government's transport innovation division; Lee Hun-jeon, secretary-general of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam network of the Korea Manifesto Center; Do Han-yeong, secretary-general of the Busan Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice; Lee Won-gyu, chairman of the Busan Metropolitan Public Transport Citizens' Fund; and Busan Metropolitan Council members Kang Seung-ju and Lee Sang-wook of the Construction and Transportation Committee.
