Gyeonggi Province Chuseok Special Traffic Measures Focus on COVID-19 Prevention

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 23rd that it will implement '2020 Gyeonggi Province Chuseok Special Traffic Measures' from the 29th through next month's 4th to create a safe transportation environment including preventing the spread of COVID-19 ahead of Chuseok.

This is a measure to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 that could occur as the volume of movement increases due to the surge of people returning to their hometowns and returning to their workplaces during the Chuseok holiday period.

To this end, mask-wearing will be made mandatory for passengers when boarding public transportation such as intercity and local buses and taxis, and transport workers must also wear masks and gloves.

Hand sanitizers will be provided for passengers inside vehicles, and disinfection of vehicles and terminals will be carried out at least once daily. In addition, continuous guidance on infection prevention measures will be provided through promotional materials inside vehicles and G-BUS TV.

In particular, when making ticket reservations for intercity buses and the like, rear seats for transport workers will not be available for booking, and window seats will be prioritized for reservation.

The dedicated airport buses for overseas arrivals, which have been in continuous operation since the spread of COVID-19, will continue to operate regardless of the holiday period.

These serve as transportation to prevent community transmission by separating overseas arrivals from general passengers and blocking contact, with 10 routes between Incheon Airport and major transit hubs in the province operating 40 times daily.

At the same time, plans are in place to operate unmanned ticketing machines to minimize human contact, and to distribute Korean and English guidebooks for overseas arrivals through information desks to encourage compliance with quarantine measures.

Additionally, 'quarantine taxis' with splash-prevention partitions installed inside vehicles will also be operated. Boarding is available at the dedicated taxi pick-up area at Incheon Airport for overseas arrivals.

Furthermore, to provide residents with travel convenience, real-time road traffic information will be provided through the Gyeonggi Transportation Information Center website (gits.gg.go.kr), mobile web (mgits.gg.go.kr), mobile app (Gyeonggi Transportation Information), and Twitter (@16889090), and the frequency of intercity bus operations and taxi part-time systems will be flexibly operated according to the demand of returnees and local circumstances.

In addition, to ensure safe travel of those returning home and to their workplaces, maintenance will be carried out on poor road surfaces and road facilities, and cooperation with municipal governments, bus transport business associations, and bus terminals will be strengthened to establish transportation order, including compliance with traffic regulations and safety rules and adherence to scheduled operating hours.

Park Kyou-cheol, Chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Policy Division, stated, "This Chuseok special traffic measure focused on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and creating a safe transportation environment," and added, "We respectfully request that residents actively participate and cooperate, such as complying with quarantine measures."