Seoul subway and bus fares will rise from April next year at the earliest.
The increase is likely to be 300 won for both the subway and bus.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced today (29th) that it will promote a plan to raise public transportation fares such as subways, city buses, and village buses by 300 won each at the end of April next year.
The last public transportation fare increase in Seoul was in June 2015.
If rates rise next year, it will be the first increase in eight years.
Currently, the general fare for public transportation in Seoul is 1,250 won for the subway and 1,200 won for the intra-city bus based on the card.
If you increase by 300 won, the subway fare will be 1,550 won and the intra-city bus ticket will be 1,500 won.
In terms of cash, the price goes up to 1,650 won for the subway and 1,600 won for the city bus.
The city has a severe cumulative deficit in subways and buses, and the government decided not to support the budget for the loss of free transportation for the elderly next year.
In the meantime, the government has supported the free transportation loss compensation (PSO) budget only for Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) based on Article 32 of the Framework Act on Railroad Industry Development.
Local governments operating urban railways, including Seoul, have demanded that the government compensate for the related loss costs since the free ride system for the elderly and the disabled was introduced in 1984 by the order of the president.
Despite this request, the government support was eventually canceled as the PSO budget for local government urban railways was excluded from the government budget for 2023, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 24th of this month.
The city said, "We have delayed public transportation fare increases as much as possible because it can directly affect the livelihood of the people.
According to the city, over the past five years (2018-2022), subways have suffered an annual average loss of about 920 billion won and buses have averaged 540 billion won.
With inflation and labor costs steadily rising, and overlapping with COVID-19, the subway deficit increased from KRW 587.8 billion in 2019 to KRW 1.1448 trillion in 2020, KRW 995.7 billion in 2021, and KRW 1.2 trillion in 2022 (forecast). It has risen sharply to 60 billion won.
The deficit for buses also increased from 353.8 billion won in 2019 to 678.4 billion won in 2020, 735 billion won in 2021, and 658.2 billion won in 2022 (forecast).
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Seoul Metropolitan Transportation Corporation, the city and the subway operator, has partially made up for the deficit through the issuance of public bonds and financial support.
This year, public bonds issued by Seoul Transportation Corporation amounted to KRW 900 billion, and Seoul Metropolitan Government's financial support for the construction amounted to KRW 1.2 trillion.
However, the city judges that it is difficult to operate public transportation stably with fares at the price level of 8 years ago due to social changes such as a decrease in population and users, and the opening of the GTX and private railways in the metropolitan area.
The rate of fare realization that transportation costs account for in the average fare per person is 60% for the subway and 65% for the bus.
Since the transportation income does not reach the cost, it is a structure in which the more you operate, the more you lose.
In addition, the city explained that it is a situation that can no longer delay the rate increase even for the replacement of aging facilities.
Currently, 66.2% of Seoul subway facilities are outdated facilities that have exceeded their usable period.
In particular, the aging rate of lines 1 to 4 reached 73.1%.
The expected increase (300 won) next year is quite large.
In 2015, subway and bus fares increased by 200 won and 150 won, respectively.
Considering that the rate of realization of fares at the time of past hikes had risen to 80-85%, this time, the price of 700 won for subways and 500 won for buses should be raised. is.
The exact price is finalized through public hearings, listening to the opinions of the city council, and deliberation by the Price Countermeasures Committee.
The city plans to start consultations with related organizations participating in the integrated transfer discount system, such as Gyeonggi-do and Incheon within the year, and adjust fares by the end of April next year at the earliest after a citizen public hearing in January next year and listening to the opinions of the city council in February.
"We have reached a critical point where we cannot overcome the severe deficit structure with self-rescue efforts and financial support alone," said Baekho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Transportation Office.
(Photo = Yonhap News)