<Anchor>



From today (18th), you cannot board Gyeonggi-do metropolitan buses if there are no seats.

Passengers are expected to experience inconvenience during commuting time, so we will connect reporters at the scene to find out what the commute situation is like this morning.



Reporter Jo Yoon-ha, how is the situation on the way to work?



<Reporter>



Yes, I am at Seohyeon Station in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.



This is a place where the demand for citizens who go to work in Seoul is quite high.



As time goes by, the number of people going to work here is increasing, but there were already quite a few seats left.



From today, all standing buses operated by 14 Gyeonggi-do metropolitan bus companies are prohibited.



About 1,300 standing seats, about half of Gyeonggi-do's wide-area buses, such as 1150 and 9000, are suspended.



Nearly 2,400 passengers used the wide-area bus as a standing seat during the usual commuting time.



Bus companies explained that they decided to suspend standing because of increased public safety concerns following the Itaewon disaster.



<Anchor>



Did the government come up with a countermeasure?



<Reporter>



As concerns about citizens' disruptions on their way to and from work grew, the government and local governments came up with countermeasures.



First of all, Gyeonggi-do announced that it would increase the number of regular buses by 53 and use 85 chartered buses.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would advance the increase in vehicles planned for this year and add 12 additional vehicles and 3 spare vehicles within this month.



However, even if additional buses are put in, it is not possible to accommodate all bus passengers whose standing is suspended, so commuting confusion is expected for the time being.



For those going to work, it would be better to check the number of remaining seats on the mobile phone app before coming out, and alternative routes can also be checked through the Gyeonggi Bus app.