Satisfaction with Expressway Use Among Highest Alongside Post Office and Water Supply Services

Trends in road user satisfaction survey results. The expressway survey was conducted for the first time in 2020. (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Last year, satisfaction with highway usage was found to be among the highest in public services, alongside postal and water supply services.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the results of the "2020 Road User Satisfaction Survey" on the 13th. The survey was conducted by the Korea Productivity Center using the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) on 6,640 randomly selected users of expressways and general national roads.

Based on the survey results, the Ministry plans to identify areas of road service that need improvement and utilize the findings to develop efficient investment plans for road management budgets, thereby enhancing user-centered road safety.

According to last year's survey, expressways scored 78 points and general national roads scored 75 points in satisfaction. Compared to other public services, expressways received the same score as postal and water supply services, showing the highest satisfaction among public services. General national roads showed satisfaction levels comparable to tax administration, police administration, and waste collection services.

For expressways, the highest satisfaction score was 86 points in traffic information provision and smooth road traffic. On the other hand, road traffic safety scored the lowest at 84 points, and there were many requests for improvements in convenience facilities such as rest areas and Hi-Pass. Similarly, general national roads scored 79 points in road environment comfort, along with high satisfaction in traffic information provision and road rest facilities. However, there were strong demands for improvements in safety aspects such as lane markings and road potholes.

Based on these survey results, the Ministry will focus investments this year on pavement maintenance of aging general national roads with 223.8 billion KRW and lane marking with 44 billion KRW. In particular, a "Digital Road Pothole Management System" will be established to statistically track pothole occurrences based on GPS location data, enabling road patrols more than five times a week to repair potholes more quickly.

Additionally, lane markings, which can cause accidents during nighttime or rainy driving due to wear or fading, will be regularly inspected twice a year using mobile advanced lane luminance survey equipment. Sections with low visibility will be pre-painted to improve road driving safety.

Furthermore, the Ministry will invest a total of 664.4 billion KRW, an increase of 38.2 billion KRW from last year, in road maintenance budgets including 130.5 billion KRW for landslide prevention in preparation for heavy rains and 53.5 billion KRW for winter snow and ice countermeasures, to establish a user-centered safe road environment.

Korea Expressway Corporation will also actively implement improvement policies reflecting the user satisfaction survey results, such as strengthening safety of road facilities, establishing contactless payment systems at rest areas, and adding multi-lane Hi-Pass installations to enhance services.

Juhyun Jong, Director of the Road Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We plan to actively reflect the survey results, including areas needing improvement, into policy implementation so that roads can be managed from the perspective of the people who use them."

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