Evolution of Urban Transportation and Public Bus Services in Korea
Beginning with the repair and restoration of its public transportation infrastructure in the aftermath of the Korean War, Korea has seen a dramatic evolution in urban transportation, from trams and buses to urban railways. In the 1960s, the country’s top priority was restoring and developing its transportation facilities and infrastructure, with the goal of increasing the availability of trams, buses, taxis, and other such urban transportation services.
[Typical Traffic Congestion in Seoul in The 1960s]
Source: Seoul Metro Website
The same emphasis on the sufficiency of supply continued into the 1970s. However, during this same decade, policymakers also reformed laws and institutions so as to ensure the efficiency, order, and sustainable growth of public transportation. As owning cars became the norm for Koreans in the late 1970s, traffic congestion began to intensify, compelling the Korean government to expand and build roads.
[Gyeongbu Expressway, Completed in 1970]
Source: Gonggam Policy Information Center[Opening of Korea's First Urban Railway Transit Line (1974)]
Source: Seoul Metro, "30 Years of Seoul Metro".
In the 1980s and 1990s, transportation supply and demand management became increasingly integrated and centralized, with the overarching goals of steadily increasing the availability of urban railway transit services, reducing traffic congestion through the continuous expansion of roads and transportation demand management (TDM), and increasing the operational efficiency of the transportation industry through regulatory reforms and service improvements. In the 2000s, the government’s focus on increasing the availability of roads and railway transit services has remained unchanged. Yet policymakers have also begun turning their attention toward the development of a more sustainable urban transportation system and transportation services in response to global warming, the depletion of energy resources, and the decline in the viability of public transportation businesses and services
[1]Lee and Lim (2013) Best experiences from public transportation reform (p.29). KSP ModularizationView.
[Evolution of Public Transportation in Korea]
Changing conditions of urban transportation and public bus services.
The rapid influx of people into urban areas has led buses to become the most popular and common mode of public transportation. The explosive growth of car ownership and the resulting increases in traffic congestion as well as the expansion of railway transit infrastructure and services in the 2000s, however, have weakened the relative competitiveness of buses. The drastic drop in the number of bus passengers has added to the management difficulties and deficits of bus operating companies, thrusting the bus industry into a structural recession in the early 2000s.
The management of private-sector companies, which are responsible for all types of bus services in Korea, has been overly concerned with profitmaking. As a consequence, they have failed to respond to the changes in the demand and needs of public transportation passengers. Therefore, Korea’s current bus system is one that satisfies neither the operators nor consumers. Bus companies, already short on capital and struggling, have been unable to improve their services, an inability that has resulted in decreases in their modal share and further increases in their deficits. The inefficiency of bus services has, in turn, encouraged many regular bus passengers to become car owners, adding to the intensifying problem of traffic congestion in Korea. In the meantime, the current public transportation policy, which favors urban railway transit, is generating heavy fiscal burdens for the central and local governments, while the long-term nature of railway development projects makes it impossible for railway operators to respond promptly to the growing demand for public transportation. The current situation therefore calls for a bus-centered reform of the public transportation system in Korea.
Source: Seoul Transportation Policy Department.
The main concern Seoul Metropolitan Government had in launching its reform of the local bus system was that of finding a proper semi-public operation system capable of maintaining the private sector’s involvement in public transportation services, while also ensuring the satisfaction of public interests. The reform plan thus proposed a number of changes, including the public management of trunk buses, establishment of a payment management organization, and legislation of an official policy endorsing the semi-public operation system for bus services.
[2]Lee and Lim (2013) Best experiences from public transportation reform (p.61). KSP ModularizationView
Seoul City, moreover, sought to shift the focus of bus operations from the supplier to the consumer, aiming to maximize the accessibility of bus services to passengers. The city government thus divided Seoul into eight zones, and divided bus services into four categories based on route type, namely: metropolitan line buses, trunk line buses, circular line buses, and feeder line buses. Trunk line buses would handle the transportation demand across the eight zones, while metropolitan line buses would connect the downtown areas of Seoul with major urban areas in the surrounding cities. Feeder line buses would transport passengers within each zone, particularly to and from the routes of trunk line buses and subway stations. Finally, circular line buses would increase the accessibility of commercial and retail areas. In order to keep the bus fares affordable and shorten bus run times, the city also set out to expand bus infrastructure, introducing the exclusive median bus lanes, public bus parking garages, Bus Management System, bus transfer centers, and discounts on fares. In particular, the exclusive median bus lanes and the infrastructure for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system dramatically improved the timeliness of bus services.
[Transportation Policy Direction and Solutions by Period]
| Category |
1960~1970년대 |
1980~1990년대 |
2000년대 |
Transport
Policy |
Problems |
- High urban population
density
- Insufficient transportation
network
- Difficulty using public
transportation |
- Rapid increase in
passenger cars
- Traffic congestion |
- Worsening energy and
environmental problems |
Policy
Direction |
- Expansion of public
transportation |
- Control of demand for
cars |
- Establishment of eco-
friendly urban transportation
system |
| Solution |
- Focus on bus operation |
- Expand roads and
facilities and improve
their operation
- Construct urban railway
- Promote public
transportation system |
- Increase efficiency of public
transportation
- Enhance public
transportation service |
| Transport Mode |
Bus |
- Establish order in bus
transportation system
ㆍIncrease bus supply
ㆍEstablish system for bus
operation and reform bus
business structure |
- Increase efficiency of bus
operation
ㆍIntroduce exclusive bus
lanes
ㆍIntroduce bus card
system
ㆍSubsidize unprofitable
routes |
- Reform bus operation
system and introduce semi-
public bus operation system
ㆍProvide financial support for
bus operators
ㆍIntroduce semi-public city
bus operation system and
reform bus routes
ㆍIntroduce more advanced
and comfortable buses |
| Railway |
- Restructure organization
and system
ㆍRepair railway facilities
and increase efficiency of
operation |
- Improve interregional
railway operation system
ㆍBuild high-speed railway
ㆍExpand urban railway
networks |
- Establish railway
transportation system
ㆍSeparate facilities and
operation
ㆍLaunch high-speed railway
ㆍIntroduce urban mass
transit |
| Taxi |
- Establish taxi system
ㆍCreate taxi business
license system and fare
system
ㆍIntroduce owner-driver taxi
system |
- Improve taxi service
ㆍInnovate taxi service for
Asian Games and\
Olympics
ㆍDiversify taxi services |
- Improve management of
taxi industry
ㆍReduce taxi oversupply and
support taxi industry
ㆍIntroduce taxi franchise
system |
Source: KOTI, Public Transportation System Reform, 2013
