Urban Rail Transit Achieves Both User Satisfaction and Accessibility for Transportation-Disadvantaged Groups

Infographic on the Satisfaction of Mobility Convenience for Transportation Vulnerable Groups in 2019 (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Urban and metropolitan railways were surveyed as the transportation modes with the highest user satisfaction. The suitability for installing convenience facilities for transportation-vulnerable groups was also found to be highest at urban and metropolitan railway stations.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced the results of the "2019 Survey on Mobility Convenience for Transportation-Vulnerable Groups" conducted in eight special and metropolitan cities on the 19th. This survey is conducted biennially by sampling special/metropolitan cities and nine provinces separately.

This survey covered 6,086 buses, 6,820 urban and metropolitan railway cars, 729 urban and metropolitan railway stations, and 622 bus stops.

Combining transportation-vulnerable and non-vulnerable groups, the most frequently used mode of transportation within the same region was the bus (45.7%). Urban railways followed at 27.2%, and walking or wheelchair use at 11.7%. Conversely, for travel to other cities or provinces, private cars accounted for the highest share at 57.6%, followed by trains at 18.9%, and express/intercity buses at 15.2%.

Satisfaction with these transportation modes was highest for urban and metropolitan railways, scoring 79.5 points. Airplanes scored 79.0 points, and railways 78.0 points. Passenger ships showed the lowest satisfaction at 65.3 points.

Passenger facilities showed a similar trend. Urban and metropolitan railways had the highest satisfaction at 85.8 points, followed by railway stations at 85.0 points, and airport terminals at 83.5 points, with only slight differences. Passenger ship terminals also showed the lowest satisfaction here at 71.4 points.

Infographic on the Compliance Rate of Mobility Convenience for Transportation Vulnerable Groups in 2019 (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

As of the end of last year, transportation-vulnerable groups in South Korea were surveyed to be 15.22 million people, accounting for 29.4% of the total population of 51.85 million. This is an increase of about 130,000 compared to the previous year.

Transportation-vulnerable groups refer to those who experience difficulties in mobility in daily life, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, people accompanied by infants, and children. Among these, the elderly aged 65 and over accounted for the highest proportion at 8.03 million people (52.7%). Children (3.29 million) and persons with disabilities (2.62 million) followed.

The transportation mode preferences of transportation-vulnerable groups showed a similar trend to the overall preferences, but within the same region, the share of buses decreased somewhat while the share of urban railways increased. For travel to other cities or provinces, the share of private cars increased, and persons with disabilities showed a sharp rise in train usage at 27.7%.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official explained that "fare discount systems are being implemented according to the type of transportation-vulnerable group," and added that "the high suitability rate of mobility convenience facilities in transportation modes and passenger facilities is believed to contribute to the high usage rate by transportation-vulnerable groups."

The suitability rate for mobility convenience facilities for transportation-vulnerable groups was 79.4% on average across eight special and metropolitan cities. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to 2017 and has shown improvement in every biennial survey since 2012, when it was 71.3%.

By transportation mode, the suitability rate was highest for railways (98.6%), followed by urban and metropolitan railways (95.4%), buses (94.1%), airplanes (72.6%), and passenger ships (30.5%). The Ministry explained that for airplanes, the evaluation criteria have become more specific, and low-cost carriers (LCCs) tend to have lower suitability rates. For passenger ships, most are aging vessels over 10 years old, structurally making it difficult to install mobility convenience facilities, resulting in low suitability rates.

More detailed results of this survey (detailed status survey) can be found through the "Mobility Convenience Facilities Status" section under "Transportation-Vulnerable Groups" on the "Transportation Safety Information Management System" operated by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.

Yoon Young-jung, Director of the Transportation Safety and Welfare Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We plan to provide these survey results to local governments and transportation operators to encourage improvements where deficiencies exist," and added, "We will continuously improve mobility convenience facilities so that transportation-vulnerable groups can travel safely and conveniently, and actively support the expansion of transportation modes for transportation-vulnerable groups, such as low-floor buses."

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