"How Varied Is Commute Time"... Citizens Oppose Nighttime 'Public Transport Reduction'

Seoul City Cuts Night Bus and Subway Services by 20%
Oh Se-hoon: "To Encourage Reduced Travel and Early Return Home"
"Won't It Cause More Congestion?" Citizens Express Complaints
Experts: "Limiting Operating Hours Will Reduce Travel Volume"

Citizens are lined up in a long queue to board the bus.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] "This doesn't seem right...", "It's frustrating."

Some citizens are voicing opposition to Seoul City's decision to reduce late-night public transportation as a measure to strengthen COVID-19 prevention. The policy aims to minimize movement by cutting public transit operations, but critics argue it fails to consider the circumstances of citizens who commute or return home late at night.

Some have pointed out that crowding at specific times might actually reduce the effectiveness of the prevention measures. Experts suggest that simply limiting the operating hours of multi-use facilities such as cafes and restaurants could reduce movement.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight on the 8th, there were 1,275 new confirmed cases, marking the highest daily number since the COVID-19 outbreak began. This is the first time the daily cases have remained in the 1,200s for two consecutive days, following 1,212 cases the previous day.

As the domestic COVID-19 situation has effectively entered the '4th wave' phase, Seoul City announced strengthened prevention measures on the 7th. The main points of Seoul City's enhanced measures include ▲mandatory preemptive testing for owners and workers of academies, restaurants, cafes, karaoke rooms, and PC rooms ▲expansion of temporary screening clinics to increase testing capacity ▲securing more than 2,000 additional hospital beds available for immediate admission ▲adjusting public transportation operating hours during late-night hours ▲and banning nighttime drinking after 10 p.m. in 25 major parks including Hangang Park.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon explained the rationale behind the reduction of public transportation, saying "The intention is to urge people to refrain from unnecessary movement due to COVID-19," and emphasized, "Since reducing public transportation will cause inconvenience, please return home early." Seoul City plans to reduce bus operations by 20% starting on the 8th and subway operations by 20% starting on the 9th after 10 p.m.

Mayor Oh added, "The subway congestion rate after 10 p.m. is currently around 70%," and "Even if it increases somewhat, it is expected to remain at a comfortable level below 100% congestion." He also mentioned that the 20% reduction is not fixed but will be flexibly adjusted based on monitoring over time.

Citizens wearing masks are moving at Gwanghwamun Station on Seoul Subway Line 5. Photo by Yonhap News.

However, citizens are opposing the measure. Critics argue that the convenience of those commuting or returning home during evening hours was not considered. Right after Seoul City's announcement, many posts expressing dissatisfaction with the public transportation reduction appeared on social networking services (SNS).

One netizen commented, "Are people who finish work at 10 supposed to quit their jobs? I don't know if this decision considered the convenience of citizens working overtime," adding, "Not everyone works 9 to 6, and work hours vary so much. Did they make this decision because they only drive private cars and don't understand citizens' inconvenience?"

Concerns have also been raised that reducing public transportation could lead to more crowding inside buses and subways, creating an environment more vulnerable to infection. A 20-something office worker named Ha, who commutes to Gangnam, said, "They say congestion is low after 10 p.m., but that's just talk without experience," and added, "On crowded subway lines like Line 2, it's still packed after 10 p.m. If they reduce the number of trains, people will crowd even more, causing inconvenience to citizens and negatively impacting prevention efforts."

Previously, during the '3rd wave' in December last year, Seoul City also reduced public transportation operations by 30% after 9 p.m., which sparked public backlash. One netizen said, "Last time, because of the reduced transportation, I had to wait a long time to catch a bus, squeeze in, and felt stressed during rush hour," and criticized, "Reducing the number of services doesn't reduce people's movement, so I don't understand why they implement unnecessary policies that only cause inconvenience."

Experts suggest that simply limiting the operating hours of multi-use facilities would reduce citizens' movement. Professor Eom Jung-sik, an infectious disease specialist at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, said, "Public transportation reductions have been done before, and many people complained about the inconvenience," and added, "It can cause significant inconvenience to those who have to work late for their livelihood."

He continued, "Whether the prevention effect is enough to overcome such inconvenience remains to be seen, but if the goal is to reduce citizens' movement, simply shortening the operating hours of restaurants and similar establishments should be sufficient," he suggested.

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