Next Year's Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Budget 1 Trillion Won... 210 Billion Won Increase from This Year

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Transport Commission Accelerate Expansion of Fast and Convenient Metropolitan Transportation Infrastructure

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Metropolitan Transport Committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 8th that it will increase next year's budget by 210 billion KRW and actively promote infrastructure expansion to solve metropolitan area wide transport issues and provide high-quality wide-area transport services to the public.

The budget for next year to expand wide-area transport infrastructure was set at 1.07 trillion KRW, an increase of 210 billion KRW (26.6%) from this year's 790.7 billion KRW.

Looking at the project plans by major sectors, 928.8 billion KRW was allocated for 12 metropolitan and urban railway projects (this year 590.5 billion KRW → next year 806.1 billion KRW) and 23 metropolitan and congested road projects (145.7 billion KRW → 122.7 billion KRW) in the railway and road sectors.

The budget for metropolitan and urban railways will increase by 36.5% from 590.5 billion KRW this year to 806.1 billion KRW next year. Specifically, this includes the extension of Seoul Line 7 to Cheongna (31 billion KRW → 72.4 billion KRW), the 4th phase extension of Seoul Line 9 (5.3 billion KRW → 21.3 billion KRW), the Dongbuk Light Rail Transit (5.6 billion KRW → 28.1 billion KRW), Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 (224 billion KRW → 275 billion KRW), and Yangsan Urban Railway (50 billion KRW → 96 billion KRW).

The metropolitan and congested road budget (122.7 billion KRW) decreased by 23 billion KRW compared to this year. However, the Metropolitan Transport Committee explained that this is due to the phased investment requirements of projects scheduled for completion from this year to next year, and the overall project scale has not decreased. Additionally, ongoing congested road improvement projects such as Dalseo-gu Sanghwa-ro and Sikman-Sasang-ro were included with their phased essential costs, along with two new congested road projects: Daedeok Special Zone East Access Road (1.2 billion KRW) and Neungso-Gangdong Road (8.5 billion KRW).

To improve metropolitan public transport services, budgets were expanded for metropolitan buses (10 billion KRW → 21.4 billion KRW), metropolitan BRT (14.1 billion KRW → 15.6 billion KRW), transfer centers (18.4 billion KRW → 17.5 billion KRW), and the Altteul Transportation Card (9.6 billion KRW → 15.3 billion KRW).

The metropolitan bus budget reflects the expansion of the quasi-public operation system (from 27 routes to 101 routes) and increased support for additional runs during peak commuting hours to alleviate congestion (from 103 runs/day to 135 runs/day). It also includes support for the supply of 20 double-decker electric buses to increase transport capacity and achieve carbon neutrality.

The metropolitan BRT budget includes three new projects: Seongnam S-BRT, Gongju-Sejong, and Jeju BRT. The transfer center budget includes nine new projects: Songjeong Station (tentative name), Uijeongbu Station, Guri Station, Chorim Station, Bukjeong Station, Gyeryong Station, Yangjae Station, Gangil Station, and Bupyeong Station.

The Altteul Transportation Card budget was also expanded from 9.6 billion KRW to 15.3 billion KRW considering the increase in users (164,000 in December 2020 → 236,000 in June 2021).

Kim Kyuhyun, Standing Commissioner of the Metropolitan Transport Committee, said, "The metropolitan area's wide-area transport infrastructure is still insufficient," adding, "Next year, we will do our utmost to overcome the crisis caused by COVID-19, revitalize the economy, and provide fast and convenient wide-area transport infrastructure and services that the public can feel."

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