Two Years Since Designation of Green Transport Zone... 59% Sharp Decrease in Grade 5 Vehicle Traffic in Downtown Seoul

58.6% Decrease in Grade 5 Vehicle Traffic, 98.0% Reduction in Non-Emission Device Vehicles... Visible Effects of Traffic Restrictions↑
Passenger Cars Entering and Exiting the Capital Decreased by 7.4%, While Freight Trucks Increased by 5.6% Due to Increased Delivery Volume from COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 24th that it has achieved a 59% reduction in the passage of Grade 5 vehicles in the city center two years after designating the Green Transportation Zone. In particular, the passage of vehicles without emission reduction devices decreased by 98%.

On the 25th, Seoul City released the results of collecting and analyzing vehicle entry and exit information at 45 access points passing through the Hanyangdoseong Fortress, which surrounds 8 neighborhoods in Jongno-gu and 7 neighborhoods in Jung-gu, since the implementation of the "Green Transportation Zone Operation Restriction System" in December 2019.

The collected and analyzed data showed that the daily traffic volume entering and exiting Hanyangdoseong Fortress decreased by 9.5%, from 796,000 vehicles per day in July 2019 to 721,000 vehicles per day in December last year. Grade 5 vehicles decreased by 58.6%, from 15,000 vehicles per day to 6,000 vehicles per day, showing a sixfold reduction. Among vehicles entering and exiting Hanyangdoseong (downtown), 70.5% were found to stay within one hour, and the proportion of long-term stays of 8 hours or more, such as for commuting purposes, was very low at 6.8%.

Looking at the traffic volume of vehicles entering and exiting Hanyangdoseong by time of day, vehicles entering the city center showed peak traffic between 7 and 9 a.m., then gradually decreased, while vehicles exiting the city center gradually increased, showing peak traffic between 4 and 6 p.m. Traffic volume is thus concentrated during commuting hours. In addition, among the total traffic volume, passenger cars and vans decreased by 7.4% and 21.5%, respectively, but due to an increase in delivery volumes caused by COVID-19, freight vehicle traffic increased by 5.6%.

Furthermore, examining the distribution of vehicles entering and exiting Hanyangdoseong by fuel type, the passage of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles increased significantly, far exceeding the supply rates of electric and hybrid vehicles, demonstrating the effect of designating and operating the Green Transportation Zone. Electric vehicles increased from 2,000 in July 2019 to 14,000 in December last year, and hybrid vehicles increased from 20,000 to 37,000.

Meanwhile, analyzing the number of times vehicles entered the city center, 205,000 vehicles (89.1%) entered 1 to 2 times per day, while 1,000 vehicles (0.6%) entered 9 or more times. Baek Ho, Director of Urban Transportation, said, “Based on the analysis results, we will make more efforts to improve the urban traffic environment and reduce fine dust through detailed policy establishment.”

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