Route 123 restored, Route 126 expanded with additional vehicles; December overhaul planned based on transit card data

A route map for city bus No. 123, which will be restored with five additional vehicles to serve the Cheongsang and Guyeong to Dong-gu Bangeojin corridor. [Provided by Ulsan city government]
A route map for city bus No. 123, which will be restored with five additional vehicles to serve the Cheongsang and Guyeong to Dong-gu Bangeojin corridor. [Provided by Ulsan city government]

Ulsan city will deploy 15 additional buses and launch a first-phase overhaul of its city bus network on Oct. 3, restoring some discontinued routes and adjusting headways and service paths.

The key changes include restoring Route 123, adding vehicles to Route 126, adjusting and expanding Route 743, modifying the routes and frequency of express seated buses, and changing the operating hours of Buk-gu Route 12.

Route 123, running between Cheongsang and Guyeong through Taehwa-dong, Seongnam-dong, Myeongchon, Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries to Bangeojin, will be restored with five vehicles to improve commuter access to Dong-gu.

Route 743, serving the Myeongchon–UNIST corridor, will be expanded from six to eight vehicles and rerouted to restore the core function of the former Route 307, which passed through Cheongsang.

Some express seated bus routes will be adjusted to reduce standing passengers and improve punctuality and operational reliability.

Route 1154, running between Myeongchon and Busan's Nopo-dong Station, will be rerouted via Sinbok intersection to ease demand concentrated on Route 1224, while Route 1413 will be extended via Ulsan Bridge to Kkotbawi. Route 1115 will have part of its path shifted from Yeompo-ro to Asan-ro.

A proposal from students at Dongcheon High School — dubbed the "Big Dipper Bus Plan" — will also be incorporated, adjusting the Dalcheon departure times for Buk-gu Route 12 from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 4:10 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kim Chang-hyeon, head of Ulsan's transportation bureau, said the city plans to continue analyzing passenger feedback, transit card usage data, travel demand by district and actual operating conditions after the overhaul, with a second-phase route improvement scheduled for December.

Meanwhile, Ulsan city held a public forum Monday at the Ulsan City Council building on the direction and challenges of introducing a public bus operating system. The forum examined the current state and problems of Ulsan's city bus operations, the structures of private, semi-public and fully public operating models along with examples from other local governments, and key issues to consider in a transition to public operation — including fiscal, asset, organizational, labor-management and service concerns.

Starting with Monday's forum, the city plans to continue gathering opinions from experts, citizens, the transport industry and labor groups as it pursues the shift to a public operating model.


cityblue@heraldcorp.com