Pusan National University (PNU) shuttle buses between the Miryang Campus and Seomyeon Station on Busan Metro Line 1 are going to be discontinued, except for the first run in the morning. Students, who have been using this service to commute, paying considerable expenses, are perplexed to hear that the termination is because of a budget deficit.

On August 22, the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and College of Natural Resources and Life Science announced that there will be a significant reduction in operation of the shuttle bus between Miryang Campus and Seomyeon Station. Originally, the bus schedule included five daily runs on weekdays. Currently, the buses from Seomyeon Station to Miryang Campus run at 7:40 am, 8:40 am, and 12pm and the buses from Miryang Campus to Seomyeon Station run at 3:10 pm and 4:40 pm. If reduced, the service will run only for the one which departs at 7:40 am. However, the time of implementation is still unknown. The OSA said, “The specific time, whether it will happen from October or from next semester, has not been decided, but the termination of the buses is confirmed.”

This significant reduction in service, nearly reaching the point of route discontinuation, can be attributed to “budget constraints.” According to the OSA, some of the cost for the shuttle bus comes from the fees that students pay, and the rest of it is managed by the PNU's financial budget. Due to the increases in bus leasing costs, 65% of this year’s budget was already expended in the first half of this year. The OSA argued that this led to adjustment in the schedule for the bus between the Miryang Campus and Seomyeon Station which served half the number of passengers compared to the one to Pusan Nat’l Univ Station. In response to the inquiry whether the initial budget for the buses was tight, the OSA said, “We made this year’s budget based on last year’s settled accounts. We have not allocated a smaller budget compared to last year.”

However, students, as users of this route, are confused about the reduced operation. To commute by shuttle, they pay about 80,000 won every month, which equals 14,500 won plus 15 (average number of school days in a month) times 4,600 won, meaning the basic fare plus extra fare in March. Student A (Dept. of Life Science and Environmental Biochemistry, 21) said, “It is infuriating and saddening that the bus is planned to be abolished due to budget shortages although I pay 80,000 to 90,000 won per month to take the bus.”

If the reduction is carried out, the commuting time for those who used the buses will significantly increase. If the route is abolished, they have to take a train to Miryang or reach the Pusan Nat’l Univ Station to take a shuttle bus leaving for Miryang Campus. Student B, the user of the bus departing at 8:40 am at Seomyeon Station, said, “Even now, a round trip to school takes two hours. If the route goes away, it will extend to three hours, which makes a tiring commute more tiring.”

Students are voicing their collective desire to prevent service reduction, even if it requires an increase in fares. Student B said, “Keeping the schedule would be best. However, if it is impossible, I am willing to pay more to use the bus at Seomyeon Station.” Student C (Dept. of Animal Science) said, “Residents of areas such as Haeundae-gu, Nam-gu, and Busanjin-gu commute with the bus departing at Seomyeon; their commuting time would extend by more than an hour without the service. I hope that the commuter students' rights will be guaranteed.”

On the other hand, the operation between Busan Campus and Yangsan Campus will continue without any changes. Since March 27, free shuttle buses by Yangsan Campus have been running three times a day to promote “balanced development between the main campus and branch campus.” (reported by “Channel PNU” on March 31, 2023)

Reporter Yoon Seo-Young

Translated by Lee Soo-Hyun