Gimpo City Joins 'Climate Companion Card'... Accelerating 'Mega Seoul'

Exact Fees and Details to Be Determined Later

Gimpo City has decided to participate in Seoul City's ‘Climate Companion Card.’ Accordingly, discussions on the ‘Mega Seoul’ concept following the ‘Gimpo Seoul incorporation’ are expected to accelerate.

Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-su is greeting Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon at Seoul City Hall last month before discussing the incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the 7th, Seoul City announced that it signed a ‘Seoul-Gimpo Climate Companion Card Participation Business Agreement’ at the video conference room on the 6th floor of Seoul City Hall. The signing ceremony was attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo, who engaged in various discussions to resolve transportation issues between the two cities.

The Climate Companion Card is an unlimited public transportation pass that Seoul City will launch starting January next year. Earlier, on the 17th of last month, Incheon City’s participation was also confirmed.

Initially, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon announced that he would not participate in the Climate Companion Card and instead implement the ‘The Gyeonggi Pass,’ which adds benefits to the mileage refund-type ‘K-Pass’ that the government plans to introduce in the second half of next year. However, Gimpo City, a basic local government under Gyeonggi Province, independently decided to participate in the Climate Companion Card, raising the possibility that other basic local governments such as Guri, Goyang, and Gwacheon, which are also discussing Seoul incorporation and ‘Mega City’ concepts, may follow suit.

The regular public transportation users in Gimpo City number about 85,000 daily, of which approximately 44,000, or about 52%, use public transportation between Seoul and Gimpo. The Gimpo Gold Line, a major commuting means in the Seoul metropolitan area, is used by 30,000 people daily, and the number of users of the metropolitan buses is about 14,000 per day.

As the service area expands to include Gimpo metropolitan buses, a new commuter pass allowing metropolitan bus use is expected to be introduced. The Climate Companion Card applied to Gimpo City will be launched with passes priced at approximately 65,000 to 70,000 KRW (for the Gimpo Gold Line) and 100,000 to 120,000 KRW (for Gimpo metropolitan buses). Since the metropolitan bus fare is 2,900 KRW per ride, using the metropolitan bus round-trip 40 times on weekdays for commuting results in a fare of 116,000 KRW. Considering weekend use and connecting public transportation, the burden on Gimpo citizens is expected to be even lower. However, the exact price and detailed contents of the Climate Companion Card will be pursued through further discussions.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated, “With Gimpo City’s participation in the Climate Companion Card, joint efforts to improve transportation benefits for cities adjacent to Seoul in Gyeonggi Province have begun, and it is expected to greatly contribute to enhancing transportation benefits for residents of the metropolitan area.” He added, “We will do our best to actively expand the Climate Companion Card, which was created with a focus on people’s livelihoods, to other cities in the metropolitan area to provide various transportation benefits to local residents.”

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