"Despite COVID-19 Concerns" ... Seoul City Bus Satisfaction Hits 'All-Time High' Record

Increased Satisfaction in Comfort and Reliability ... High 'Gonggin' for Mask Prevention Measures

On the 26th, as the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continued, a quarantine official was disinfecting city buses at the Eunpyeong Public Garage in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Despite heightened public awareness of infectious disease prevention and cleanliness due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), citizen satisfaction with buses in Seoul remains high.

According to the results of the "2020 Bus Service Satisfaction Survey" announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 31st, citizen satisfaction with city buses this year rose by 0.18 points from the previous year to 82.02 points, marking the highest score since the survey began in 2006. Meanwhile, satisfaction with village buses fell by 2.79 points from last year to 78.72 points.

Among the satisfaction categories for city buses, the "comfort" category slightly declined compared to last year but still received the highest rating with a score of 82.47 points. The "safety" category increased by 1.07 points to 82.08 points, and "reliability" rose by 0.02 points to 82.13 points. For village buses, the "reliability" category scored the highest at 80.35 points, followed by "comfort" at 79.92 points and "safety" at 79.74 points, with all categories showing a decrease compared to the previous year.

The city bus route with the highest satisfaction was Route 3319 (Jinhwa Transport, Jangji Public Garage~Jamsil Station Exit 7), while among village bus routes, Gangseo 02 (Saehan Transportation, Nambu Market~Nambu Market) ranked highest. Additionally, the city bus company with the highest satisfaction was Jinhwa Transport (88.06 points), operating routes 3319, 461, 3422, 402, 3417, and 3011, and among village bus companies, Hanmaeum Transportation (85.83 points), operating Nowon 09 bus, was selected.

The top priority improvement requested by bus passengers for both city and village buses was the cleanliness of the vehicle interior. This is interpreted as a desire for a clean and safe vehicle environment due to concerns about virus transmission amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, the city plans to continue enhanced disinfection and management measures so that citizens can use buses with confidence, and will continuously manage and supervise improvements in vehicle interior cleanliness.

The majority of citizens positively evaluated Seoul's bus disinfection measures and the mandatory mask-wearing policy inside vehicles to prevent COVID-19 infection. Regarding Seoul's bus disinfection measures such as vehicle sterilization, 74.2% of respondents said "well done," while only 4.1% felt "additional measures are needed."

Furthermore, since the mandatory mask-wearing inside buses began at the end of May, 85.3% expressed support, and only 0.6% opposed, indicating that an overwhelming majority of public transport users agree with the mask-wearing policy.

This survey was conducted by a professional polling agency through one-on-one individual interviews with a total of 22,000 passengers who had used the respective routes at least three times a week.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Urban Transportation Office, said, "Despite the unprecedented situation caused by the spread of COVID-19, citizens have evaluated that bus services have generally improved," adding, "We will work to address shortcomings and ensure that the overall level of bus service continues to improve."

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