'Gyeonggi→Seoul' Commute Time 1 Hour 24 Minutes... Bus 9401 Most Used

Average Daily Public Transit Users of 7.3 Million Last Year
Bus Stop with Highest Boardings: Jamsil Gwangyeok Transfer Center
Subway Station with Most Entries and Exits: Gangnam Station, Transfer Hub: Sillim Station

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Workers commuting by public transportation in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon take an average of about 1 hour and 27 minutes from their starting point to their destination. Calculated round-trip, this means they spend approximately 3 hours commuting daily.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority analyzed public transportation usage in the metropolitan area based on transportation card data collected last year and announced the results on the 23rd.

Last year, the total number of transportation card uses for public transportation such as city buses and urban rail in the metropolitan area was 6.73 billion, an increase of 1.05% compared to the previous year. This means that on average, 7.3 million people used public transportation 18.45 million times daily.

By region, the average daily number of transportation card users was 3.95 million in Seoul, 2.66 million in Gyeonggi-do, and 690,000 in Incheon. Individuals who used the same transportation card multiple times in a day were counted as one person regardless of the number of uses.

The average commuting time using public transportation in the metropolitan area was 1 hour and 27 minutes. The 'Incheon → Seoul' route took 1 hour and 30 minutes, 'Gyeonggi → Seoul' took 1 hour and 24 minutes, and 'Gyeonggi → Incheon' took about 1 hour and 52 minutes. Within regions, Seoul took 47 minutes, Incheon 50 minutes, and Gyeonggi 1 hour and 36 minutes.

People commuting from Gyeonggi-do to Seoul often transferred between buses and metropolitan/urban rail (39.3%), while those commuting from Incheon to Seoul mainly used metropolitan/urban rail (54.3%) as their primary mode of transportation.

When commuting from Seoul to Incheon, transfers between buses and metropolitan/urban rail were common (56.5%), and when commuting to Gyeonggi-do, bus (29.0%), metropolitan/urban rail (34.4%), and transfers between bus and metropolitan/urban rail (36.6%) were used relatively evenly.

Among metropolitan area public transportation usage, 43.3% (2.191 billion trips) involved bus-only use, 39.2% (1.981 billion trips) involved metropolitan/urban rail only, and 17.5% (885 million trips) involved transfers between metropolitan/urban rail and buses.

Within Seoul, the highest usage was metropolitan/urban rail only at 47.84% (1.464 billion trips), while in Gyeonggi-do and Incheon, bus-only users were relatively more numerous.

Interior view of Jamsil Metropolitan Transfer Center, Songpa-gu, Seoul

The bus stop with the highest number of boardings and transfers was Jamsil Metropolitan Transfer Center. The metropolitan/urban rail station with the highest boarding and alighting was Gangnam Station, and the most transfers occurred at Jamsil Station, consistent with the previous year.

The bus stop with the highest boarding during morning rush hour was Yatap Station Comprehensive Bus Terminal (front side), alighting was at Sadang Station (middle), and transfers occurred most at Pangyo Station South Exit. For metropolitan/urban rail stations, Shinlim Station had the highest boarding and transfers, and alighting was highest at Gangnam Station, unchanged from the previous year.

During evening rush hour, bus usage remained the same as in the morning, metropolitan/urban rail boarding remained at Gangnam Station, but alighting changed from 'Shinlim Station → Gangnam Station,' and transfers changed from 'Jamsil Station → Yangjae Station.'

Express Bus

Last year, 21.275 million people used metropolitan area wide-area buses and M buses. The most used wide-area bus route was Bus No. 9401 operating between Gumi-dong Garage in Seongnam City and Seoul Station. The M bus with the highest ridership was M5107, operating between Kyung Hee University International Campus in Suwon City and Seoul Station Bus Transfer Center.

The bus route with the highest number of users in the metropolitan area was Route 143, and Subway Line 2 had the highest number of users according to the analysis.

The average one-way fare spent by metropolitan area citizens to reach their destination using public transportation was 2,162 KRW. For inter-regional travel, fares were 2,614 KRW for Incheon-Gyeonggi, 2,185 KRW for Seoul-Incheon, and 2,059 KRW for Seoul-Gyeonggi.

The average daily usage of public transportation traveling from Gyeonggi and Incheon to Seoul was 1.33 million trips, accounting for 24.2% of the average daily usage originating from Gyeonggi and Incheon. Conversely, the average daily usage traveling from Seoul to Gyeonggi and Incheon was 1.3 million trips, representing 15.6% of Seoul's total average daily trips.

The average daily usage increased by 2.12%, from 13.57 million trips in 2018 to 13.86 million trips last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.