Why Has the K-Pass Budget Surpassed the Climate Companion Card?

Seoul Announces 2026 Budget Proposal
Climate Companion Card: 140 Billion Won, K-Pass: 370 Billion Won
K-Pass Surpasses Climate Companion Card, Reversing Last Year's Trend

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has allocated a larger budget for the government's K-Pass than for the Climate Companion Card in its 2026 budget proposal. This decision is based on the expectation that, starting next year, as the K-Pass benefits expand to offer an 'unlimited flat-rate pass' similar to the Climate Companion Card, more users will switch to the K-Pass.

According to the 2026 budget proposal announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on October 30, the operational budget for the Climate Companion Card is set at 148.9 billion won, while the operational budget for the K-Pass is set at 377.5 billion won. This marks a reversal from this year, when the Climate Companion Card budget was 108.9 billion won, higher than the K-Pass operational budget of 99.6 billion won.

On the 2nd, when the 'K-Pass' service, which replaces the existing Discount Transportation Card project, started, citizens were commuting by subway at Gwanghwamun Station in Jongno, Seoul. 2024.05.02 Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

The increase in the K-Pass operational budget is attributed to the expectation that user numbers will rise as K-Pass benefits expand to include an 'unlimited pass' like the Climate Companion Card. Kim Taemyung, Director of Transportation Planning for Seoul, explained at a budget briefing held at Seoul City Hall on this day, "As of last month, about 700,000 people use the Climate Companion Card and 670,000 use the K-Pass. With the expanded benefits, we expect around 350,000 users to switch to the K-Pass," adding, "The budget was allocated based on this assessment."

In addition, the city bus and village bus budgets, which have been the subject of conflicts over financial support between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and bus operators, have been set at 350 billion won and 51 billion won, respectively. These figures represent increases of 30 billion won and 9.4 billion won compared to this year's budget.

However, the issues at the core of the city bus labor-management conflict-such as the inclusion of bonuses in ordinary wages-and the compensation for transfer losses demanded by the village bus association were not included in this budget. Director Kim stated, "Compensating for transfer losses requires further review, as the current system results in more support for profitable companies," and added, "We plan to coordinate these matters through future working-level meetings." The Seoul Village Bus Association is demanding compensation for transfer losses and fare increases from the city. When a passenger pays the village bus fare (1,200 won) and then transfers to the subway or city bus, the village bus company is reimbursed only 600 won, with the remaining 600 won counted as a loss. The association claims that, since the city does not fully compensate for these losses, the more transfer passengers there are, the greater the losses for the operators.

Regarding the city bus labor-management wage negotiations, Director Kim also referred to the previous day's second trial ruling involving Donga Transportation, stating, "The final decision will be made once the written judgment is released." On the previous day, the Seoul High Court delivered its second trial verdict in a lawsuit filed by Donga Transportation workers seeking to include bonuses in ordinary wages. The lawsuit, filed in 2015, is expected to influence this year's city bus labor-management wage negotiations.

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