'Seoul City Bus Satisfaction' Hits All-Time High... Satisfaction Score 83.44 Points

Seoul City Announces '2021 Bus Service Satisfaction Survey'
Satisfaction Increased Across All Areas for Both City and Village Buses... Top Priority Improvement Request: 'Cleanliness Inside Vehicles'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Satisfaction with Seoul city buses has risen in all areas including reliability, comfort, and safety, reaching an all-time high.

On the 29th, Seoul City announced that the '2021 Seoul City Bus Satisfaction Survey,' conducted through an external research agency, recorded a score of 83.44 points, the highest ever. Since the first satisfaction survey in 2006, the score has set a new record every year, and this year it increased by 1.42 points compared to the previous year, marking 15 consecutive years of record-breaking. Satisfaction with village buses also rose by 0.87 points from last year to 79.59 points.

Notably, this year both city buses and village buses saw increases in satisfaction scores across all surveyed areas compared to the previous year. The future-type bus stop 'Smart Shelter,' which integrates various convenience facilities such as an automatic stopping system and air purifier, showed a 94.2% satisfaction rate among users. The survey evaluated three areas: ▲'Comfort,' assessing cleanliness, noise, odor, and temperature ▲'Safety,' evaluating operation after confirming boarding of vulnerable passengers, speeding, sudden starts and stops, traffic signals, and law compliance ▲'Reliability,' assessing adherence to bus stop locations, courteous service, and punctuality of dispatch.

Among the satisfaction categories for city buses, 'Reliability' received the highest score of 84.53 points. The 'Comfort' category rose by 2.01 points from the previous year to 84.48 points, and 'Safety' increased by 1.12 points to 83.20 points. For village buses, 'Reliability' was also the highest at 81.17 points. 'Comfort' scored 80.77 points (up from 79.82 last year), and 'Safety' scored 80.32 points (up from 79.74 last year), with all categories showing increases compared to the previous year.

The routes with the highest satisfaction were city bus route 171 (Dowon Transportation, Gukmin University Front~World Cup Park 7 Complex) and village bus route Seongdong 03-2 (Naksan Transportation, Singeumho Station~Wangsimni Station). The companies with the highest satisfaction were Kyungsung Passenger for city buses (88.55 points) and Naksan Transportation for village buses (91.16 points).

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

Seoul City plans to continue enhanced disinfection and management so that citizens can use buses with peace of mind. Currently, all buses undergo disinfection once per operation, with thorough cleaning of areas frequently touched by passengers such as handrails. Additionally, every bus is equipped with at least one hand sanitizer. Furthermore, internal bus environments will be maintained through inspections of bus operation conditions.

Meanwhile, the satisfaction with the 'Smart Shelter,' pilot-installed at eight bus stops in Seoul, was surveyed for the first time, with 94.2% of users responding that they were 'satisfied.' Neutral responses were 2.9%, and dissatisfaction was 2.9%. The most valued feature of the Smart Shelter was 'protection from snow or rain during bad weather' (39.0%). The top priority for improvement was 'securing waiting facilities such as seats' (32.4%).

The 'Smart Shelter' is a future-type central bus stop that introduces cutting-edge ICT technology to the outdated and inconvenient existing bus stops to enhance the safety and convenience of public transport users. It integrates various convenience facilities such as an automatic stopping system, air purifier, UV air curtain, CCTV, heating and cooling systems, wireless phone charging, and Wi-Fi.

Seoul City plans to use the results of this satisfaction survey to reflect in the evaluation of city and village bus companies, encouraging further efforts to improve services. Companies with lower satisfaction scores will be supported through consulting in specific areas to help them develop voluntary service improvement plans.

Baek Ho, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, said, “As a result of continuous efforts to improve city bus services every year, citizens have evaluated that bus services have generally improved this year as well. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we will thoroughly carry out disinfection and management so that citizens can use buses with confidence and strive to maintain cleanliness inside vehicles.”

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