BUSAN — Regional trips between Busan and the neighboring cities of Gimhae, Yangsan, Changwon and Ulsan reach 874,000 a day, with cars and taxis accounting for more than 74% of them, prompting a policy proposal to introduce an on-demand regional bus system, known as M-DRT, to fill gaps in the area's regional transit.
According to a report titled "A Plan to Introduce Regional Call Buses in Busan," released by the Busan Metropolitan Institute on the 26th, regional trips between Busan and Ulsan, Changwon, Gimhae and Yangsan totaled 873,878 a day as of 2025. Of those, cars and taxis made up 648,684 trips, or 74.2%, while buses accounted for 9.5% and urban rail for 8.6%. Trips between Busan and Gimhae or Yangsan alone made up 68% of the total, marking them as the core axis of the Busan region's living zone.
The researchers found that existing intercity buses and rail alone struggle to serve travel demand in a regional living zone where homes and workplaces are dispersed. Intercity buses run on fixed routes centered on terminals, limiting their ability to improve access and transfer convenience for actual commuters. In the Busan region, the supply gap is especially wide, with intercity buses toward Yangsan running only about three times a day.
The researchers accordingly identified four priority axes for review: Gimhae to western Busan, Yangsan to northern and eastern Busan, Jinhae to western Busan as an industrial and commuting corridor, and Ulju to eastern Busan as an industrial and commuting corridor. The institute explained that these are not final routes but candidate axes to be reviewed first in future pilot projects and consultations with relevant agencies, and that specific stops, operating hours and the number of vehicles must be decided after additional demand surveys.
The greatest potential lies in Gimhae and Yangsan. The Gimhae-western Busan axis has the highest volume of regional trips in the Busan region, while the Yangsan-northern and eastern Busan axis showed both large trip volumes and repeated commuting demand. In Yangsan's case, demand is dispersed across northern Busan areas such as Geumgok, Hwamyeong and Gupo; the Geumjeong and Dongnae area including Guseo, Namsan and Jangjeon; and eastern Busan areas such as Jeonggwan and Jangan, suggesting the need to review multiple living-zone links rather than a single fixed route.
Jinhae and Ulju, where commuting demand tied to industrial complexes is concentrated, were also named as strong candidates. Regional trips between Busan and Changwon number 142,036 a day, a mid-range figure among the four axes, but cars and taxis carry the highest share at 82.9%, and there is no urban rail link. The share of fixed commuting among those traveling from Jinhae District to Busan is also high at 83.7%, making the corridor well suited to reservation-based regional transit.
The Ulju-eastern Busan axis has the smallest trip volume, at 137,128, but its strength is steady industrial commuting demand. Commuters traveling from Busan to Ulju County were estimated at 8,597 a day, and the share of fixed commuting demand was 93.9%, the highest among the areas analyzed. As a result, it was rated one of the axes best suited to the characteristics of a scheduled, reservation-based regional call bus.
Public acceptance was also relatively high. In a survey of 500 people with experience making regional trips, 66.8% supported introducing regional call buses and 75.8% said they intended to use them. Users cited the long travel times and infrequent service of existing public transit as the main reasons they wanted the system. Still, the survey found that riders would need an average travel-time saving of 18.6 minutes to use a regional call bus, with a maximum acceptable wait of 11.9 minutes after booking and an acceptable delay of 10.8 minutes while onboard, indicating that tangible time savings and punctuality—beyond simply offering a "bookable bus"—are the key challenges.
The researchers proposed a timeline of a pilot phase in 2027-2028, an expansion phase in 2029-2033 and a settlement phase in 2034-2038. The approach is phased: begin with a pilot project tied to national regional transit policy in the early stage, then expand depending on results. In particular, they proposed building a regional cooperation framework involving the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang local governments, rather than a project run by Busan alone.
Financial burden is a hurdle to clear. The researchers noted that even if state funding is secured during the pilot phase, the burden on local finances could become entrenched once the service converts to a permanent operation, so mid- to long-term fiscal sustainability must be weighed from the outset. They judged that a pilot approach linked to outside funding sources such as state money is reasonable, given that Busan is already carrying out substantial transit-finance programs, including a quasi-public bus operating system, public-transit fare rebates and local regional call buses.
The core of the study is that regional call buses should be designed as a "niche transit network" linking living zones and industrial hubs that existing rail, regional buses and intercity buses cannot serve closely, rather than replacing them. An institute official said, "Securing tangible improvements that users can feel—such as actual reductions in travel time and eased transfer burdens—rather than the reservation function itself, is the key to success."
