Buses with the faces of animated characters are attracting children from all over the nation, prompting Seoul to expand its newest bus project, according to local media on Thursday.

The coming to life of characters from the animated series “Tayo, the Little Bus” is exploding in popularity across Seoul and the city is considering extending the operating term into May. The buses were originally scheduled to run for one month starting on March 26.

The city also plans to increase the number of buses to accommodate the demand.

Four buses are currently in operations, one for each line -- blue, green, red, and yellow. The city plans to increase the number of Tayo buses to 100 units by Children’s Day on May 5, Seoul mayor Park Won-soon said on his Twitter account.

The bus project is a joint effort between Seoul Bus Association and the animation company Iconix Entertainment, and it is said to cost about 3 million won ($2,840) to cover each vehicle with the designs of the animated characters.

The Tayo Bus is the newest addition to Park Won-soon’s bus projects. The late night, or “N” bus services which went into effect June 2012, ranked second among Seoul’s top ten favorite policies last year.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/tayotayobus or consult the Daum map for bus tracking information and running times.

By Suh Ye-seul
(sys@heraldcorp.com)