Seongju No. 0 Bus: The Elderly's Ride and Neighborhood Gathering Place

This is because most elderly passengers cannot read, making it hard for them to tell multiple numbers apart. They ride by reading the destination written on the front of the bus, by recognizing the driver's face as in the past, or by memorizing the route itself.

One bus driver explains that he unified all rural buses under the number zero because the elderly passengers don't know the numbers well.

On rural buses, it is common to see drivers carrying passengers' bags and helping them get off.

With many elderly grandmothers aboard, stops take longer than the driving itself, yet no passenger complains even when the schedule slips.

Helping elderly passengers shop and get around is an everyday matter for rural bus drivers. One driver says that looking after the elderly passengers' belongings is simply what a rural bus is.

The bus also serves as a neighborhood gathering place. Passengers who board at the same time each day know one another well, share their daily lives, and talk with each other.

A trainee driver, when running five to ten minutes behind schedule, received unexpected encouragement from elderly passengers.

The grandmothers said they cared more that the bus simply came than that it was late, and comforted him by saying it did not matter as long as they could get where they were going. The episode shows the generous spirit of rural elders.

The route follows roads so narrow that only one bus can barely pass at a time.

This road is the only means of travel for residents of the remote area. Because it is so narrow, only a single bus can barely get through.

Remote routes cover long distances, so they can run only twice a day, and currently few passengers ride, so buses often run nearly empty.

Even so, the service cannot stop, because it guarantees residents' right to get around. Although residents live scattered apart, this bus is their only means of transport, making the No. 0 bus an indispensable blessing for people in remote areas.

She is the only third-year student.

Eunji has commuted by bus since she was young because her home is far away. The distance to school has made bus commuting part of her everyday life.

Eunji hopes to enter a high school in another region with dormitory life, to shorten her commute and focus on her studies.

Her grandmother feels sorrow at letting her granddaughter go, and her heart is heavy with the loneliness of being left alone and worry that she won't be able to look after her. While cheering on her granddaughter's future, she feels deep sadness and anxiety at not being able to be together right away.

She says it will ease her mind to see with her own eyes what kind of school her granddaughter is going to, and she is slowly beginning to understand her granddaughter's choice to head into a wider world.