A "30-Minute Living Zone" in Incheon... Direct Metropolitan Rail Links and Transfer Innovation Needed

Incheon Institute Releases Findings of "30-Minute Transport City" Study
Proposes Overhauling Public Transport Corridors and Introducing Late-Night Autonomous Mobility Services

A research study has found that, in order to realize a "30-minute living zone" for Incheon citizens, it is necessary to directly connect the metropolitan railway network, innovate transfer systems, and introduce late-night autonomous driving mobility services.

On February 4, the Incheon Institute published the final report of its planning research project titled "A 30-Minute Transport City: Smart Metropolitan Transport That Brings Incheon Closer." The study began from the concern that, amid the simultaneous growth of new towns and decline of old downtown areas, spatial imbalance within Incheon is aggravating transport inconvenience, and that the image of Incheon as a "1-hour-and-30-minute city" must not become entrenched.

An analysis of transport conditions in the Incheon area showed that the average daily commuting time from Incheon to Seoul and Gyeonggi Province is 150 minutes, which is longer than the 116-minute average daily commuting time between major metropolitan governments. This lengthens citizens' travel costs and leads to fragmented living zones. The research team diagnosed this as the compounded result of structural limitations, including dependence on private cars, a decline in the perceived speed of urban rail, inefficient transfer hubs, and a lack of late-night public transport.

As the optimal alternative for Incheon’s transport policy, the study proposed establishing a "30-minute high-speed public transport corridor" that simultaneously encompasses a "metropolitan network" and "area-specific demand." It argued that the strategy should be designed not as a simple expansion of a single line, but as an integrated promotion plan that includes restructuring transport corridors, innovating transfer systems, directly connecting the metropolitan railway network, and reinforcing late-night mobility rights.

To innovate internal mobility within Incheon, the institute proposed building a "Y-shaped" public transport backbone using S-BRT (Super Bus Rapid Transit). Centered on three north-south sections and three east-west sections, the system is designed to eliminate transport blind spots and enhance mobility efficiency so that the city can approach a 30-minute living zone.

Great Train eXpress B Line route map. Provided by Incheon City

In terms of transfer innovation, the study suggested fostering an "integrated transfer platform" linked to metropolitan transport infrastructure such as the Great Train Express Line B and KTX services departing from Incheon. It called for reorganizing Incheon City Hall Station, Bupyeong Station, and Incheon National University Station into multifunctional transfer hubs and expanding them into "mobility anchors" based on MaaS (Mobility as a Service). MaaS is a service that integrates various modes of transport and mobility services - such as subways, buses, taxis, shared bicycles, e-scooters, and autonomous vehicles - into a single app or platform.

The study also stressed that metropolitan railways, including Great Train Express Line B, should be restructured from individual lines into a single integrated connection network, and that Incheon should be transformed from a "through city" into a "destination city" by upgrading branch corridors (urban rail) to express services and, in the long term, expanding links to airports.

In addition, to reinforce late-night mobility rights, the study proposed identifying vulnerable areas through GIS analysis based on taxi boarding and alighting data between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., and gradually introducing autonomous vehicle services.

Son Ji-eon, Senior Research Fellow at the Incheon Institute, said, "If Incheon is to leap forward as a global city, it must establish a transport system befitting that status, and the starting point is realizing a 30-minute living zone based on public transport." Son added, "The design of direct metropolitan railway connections and transfer innovation should make strategic use of the period when national metropolitan transport infrastructure such as Great Train Express lines, KTX, and transfer hubs is being developed as a turning point."

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