Last Year’s Metropolitan Traffic Volume Increased by 7.0% Compared to the Previous Year... 'Impact of Social Distancing Lifted'

Announcement of Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Survey Results
Public Transportation Usage Increased by 11.1%

As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) subsides and social distancing measures are lifted, the volume of metropolitan area transportation in major cities increased last year.

According to the interim results of the 2022 Metropolitan Area Transportation Survey released on the 27th by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee), the average daily traffic volume was recorded at 10.11 million people. This represents a 7.0% increase from 9.45 million the previous year.

Average daily metropolitan travel volume per year last year. [Data=Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Daegwangwi]

The Committee analyzed that the increase in the average daily metropolitan transportation volume was influenced by the decrease in COVID-19 confirmed cases and the end of social distancing measures.

In particular, public transportation usage increased by 11.1% (from 2.33 million to 2.59 million) compared to the previous year, and by region, the Seoul Capital Area grew by 8.5%, recovering faster than other regions.

By travel purpose, leisure and sports showed the largest recovery with an 8.8% increase compared to 2019, while tourist spots (3.1%↑) and large outlets (2.2%↑) also saw slight increases. Conversely, commercial areas decreased by 4.6%.

Last year, the average commuting time for metropolitan transportation was 116 minutes (57 minutes for going to work and 59 minutes for returning home) across all major metropolitan areas, which is 3 minutes shorter than in 2020 (119 minutes), with a proportion of trips taking 60 minutes or more for commuting.

By region, the average commuting times were 120 minutes in the Seoul Capital Area, 110 minutes in the Busan-Ulsan area, 98 minutes in the Daegu and Daejeon areas, and 91 minutes in the Gwangju area, in that order.

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