"Do We Have to Walk in This Cold?"... Transportation Service Growth Rate Hits Highest in 16 Years

City Bus and Subway Fares Increase One After Another

Last month, transportation service prices rose by 9.1% compared to a year ago, marking the largest increase in 16 years and 6 months.

This is the result of a series of public transportation fare hikes, starting with the taxi late-night surcharge in December last year, followed by an increase in the basic taxi fare this year, the Seoul city bus fare hike in August, and the metropolitan subway fare increase in October.

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the National Statistical Office's National Statistics Portal (KOSIS) on the 12th, the transportation price index, composed of transportation equipment, personal transportation equipment operation, and transportation services, recorded 117.48 (2020=100) last month, up 2.0% from the same month last year. The biggest driver of the increase in the transportation price index was the transportation service prices such as subway, bus, taxi, and airline fares, which rose 9.1% compared to the same month last year.

By detailed category, subway fares (urban railway fees) increased by 9.2%, city bus fares by 11.3%, intercity bus fares by 10.2%, and taxi fares by 20.0%.

As public transportation fares and taxi fares have been raised consecutively, concerns are emerging about the increasing transportation cost burden on low-income households.

According to the Household Trends Survey in the second quarter of this year, the average monthly household expenditure on transportation was 337,000 won, up 1.9% from a year ago. Transportation expenses include not only transportation usage fees but also automobile purchase and maintenance costs.

As the burden of transportation costs on citizens increases due to consecutive fare hikes, local governments have introduced public transportation discount policies. However, even within the metropolitan area, Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon are moving in different directions, leading to inevitable confusion among users.

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