Residents aged 20-50 in the Seoul Metropolitan Area use public transportation for an average of 64 minutes per day

Samsung Card Analysis Shows Average Usage Time: Seoul 58 Minutes, Gyeonggi 67 Minutes, Incheon 69 Minutes
Government to Expand GTX Lines to Promote 30-Minute Commute Era in Seoul Metropolitan Area

A wide-area bus operating on Gangnam-daero, Seoul, on the 12th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Culture Reporter Intern Young] It has been found that people in their 20s to 50s living in the Seoul metropolitan area spend an average of 64 minutes per day using public transportation.

According to Samsung Monimo, an analysis of postpaid transportation card usage time in the third quarter of this year by Samsung Card for members in their 20s to 50s residing in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon showed that they used public transportation such as buses or subways for an average of 64 minutes per day.

For residents of Seoul, the average daily usage time was 58 minutes, but for residents of Gyeonggi and Incheon, the average daily public transportation usage time was 67 minutes and 69 minutes respectively, about 10 minutes longer compared to Seoul residents. By gender, men used public transportation for an average of 71 minutes per day, while women used it for 58 minutes, showing that men use public transportation about 10 minutes longer than women.

The Seoul metropolitan area is home to about 26 million people, and since most workplaces are in Seoul, residents of Gyeonggi or Incheon inevitably have longer commuting times using public transportation. Accordingly, during the last presidential and local elections, related pledges poured in with statements such as "Gyeonggi residents spend 20% of their lives on public transportation."

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's "Analysis of Public Transportation Usage in the Seoul Metropolitan Area," 7.3 million people commute by public transportation daily in the metropolitan area alone. Although the government and metropolitan local governments have introduced measures due to issues such as overcrowding on commuter express buses, there are criticisms that fundamental solutions have not been achieved.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has introduced measures to increase buses in areas severely affected by "traffic hell" and designated 37 locations with urgent traffic congestion as focused management zones. Additionally, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration included the expansion of the Metropolitan Express Railway (GTX) lines in its "110 National Tasks," aiming to realize a "30-minute commuting era in the metropolitan area."

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