Jeonju City is expanding the culture of shared parking to alleviate chronic parking shortages in the downtown area. The city announced on the 23rd that it will continue to promote the "Support Program for Opening Auxiliary Parking Lots," which provides support for facility improvements and operational maintenance fees when opening auxiliary parking lots at religious facilities, residential buildings, and private structures to the public.

According to Jeonju City, as of the end of last month, there were approximately 454,000 parking spaces in the area, exceeding the number of registered vehicles at 343,402. While the numerical data suggests that there is no shortage of parking spaces, 96% of the total parking spaces are auxiliary parking lots for residential buildings or general structures, accessible only to residents or authorized personnel. This has led to the perception that there is still a shortage of parking spaces for citizens.

To address this issue, the city has been implementing a voluntary participation-based program for opening auxiliary parking lots since 2019. This year, the support for opening paid parking lots will be expanded to actively secure more open parking spaces.

Facility improvement costs of up to 30 million won are provided for open parking lots, with operational maintenance fees of up to 5 million won for free openings, and parking fee revenue returning to the managing entity for paid openings. Paid openings are operated at levels below 50% of public parking fees, using hourly or monthly pass (within 30,000 won per space) systems.

The subsidy targets parking lots that are open for at least 7 hours a day, 35 hours a week, and 10 spaces for two years, with approval from at least two-thirds of residents in residential buildings required for application. The deadline for applications is May 30th.

Choi Jun-beom, Director of the Public Transportation Department of Jeonju City, stated, "What is more important than the number of parking spaces is the practical availability for use," and expressed his commitment to improving the parking environment that citizens can feel through the spread of shared parking culture and systematic operation.

Currently, Jeonju City has a total of 115 public parking lots with 7,851 spaces. Among them, there are 43 paid parking lots with 4,600 spaces and 72 free parking lots with 3,251 spaces. There are a total of 109 public parking lots with 5,507 spaces, and 6 auxiliary parking lots with 2,344 spaces operated separately.

However, it is pointed out that these figures are not sufficient to address the actual parking shortages experienced by citizens. Councilor Han Seung-woo of the Jeonju City Council criticized during the 147th Jeonju City Council temporary session that "most of the 15 public parking lots installed by Jeonju City since 2020 have been concentrated in new cities or tourist areas such as Eco City and Manseong District," and pointed out that "adequate parking infrastructure has not been established in downtown areas such as Samcheon-dong, Junghwasan-dong, and Seoshin-dong."

Councilor Park Jeon-seon also stated during the 146th Jeonju City Council regular session that despite the number of registered vehicles exceeding 340,000, the parking supply rate in Jeonju City is only at 132%, leading to constant parking shortages in specific time zones and commercial areas. He pointed out that the lack of parking spaces has led to illegal parking and fines, causing inconvenience to citizens and even affecting local businesses.

In March, Jeonju City announced plans to invest a total of 140 billion won by 2027 to create a 2,735-space parking lot in areas such as Jeonju Hanok Village, downtown, Eco City, and Manseong District, which are new city development areas. Additionally, to revitalize alley businesses facing prolonged economic downturns, the city has been implementing a policy to relax parking enforcement during lunchtime (11:40 am to 2 pm) and holidays since March 4th. These policies, along with shared parking, are being closely watched for their potential to help alleviate the actual parking shortages experienced by citizens.