Amid worsening financial difficulties in the bus industry due to rising labor and fuel costs, intercity and express bus fares are set to increase by about 9% starting this October.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced today (the 26th) that, following consultations with relevant government ministries, the upper limits for intercity and express bus fares will be raised by 9% each starting October 1.

Consequently, bus companies will raise their fares in line with the 9% rate.

Citing rising transportation costs, the bus industry had initially requested fare increases of 17% for intercity buses and 20.1% for express buses.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport set the increase at 9% after considering the results of cost verification and the burden on users.

This marks the first fare increase for intercity and express buses in about three years, following a 5% hike in July 2023.

The upcoming fare adjustment stems from the worsened business conditions of the bus industry, driven by rising labor and fuel costs while bus ridership has failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The daily average number of intercity bus passengers plummeted by 50% from 540,000 in 2019 to 270,000 last year, while express bus passengers dropped by 30% from 83,000 to 58,000 over the same period.

Route reductions are also continuing due to deteriorating profitability.

Last year, intercity bus routes stood at 3,177, down 4.7% compared to 2019, while express bus routes decreased by 21% to 164.

Jang Gu-jung, Director General for Comprehensive Transport Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "A large number of intercity and express bus routes, which serve as essential local public transportation, are being abolished due to worsening profitability, making a minimal fare increase necessary." He added, "We will ensure that management improvements resulting from the fare adjustment lead to investments in discovering new routes and improving services."

He also noted, "To guarantee the public's right to metropolitan mobility, we plan to designate and support essential routes and formulate measures to strengthen the competitiveness of intercity and express buses."

(Photo: Yonhap News)