Seoul plans to hike transportation fees, cites deficit and needed upgrades

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that bus and subway fares in the capital may rise by 300 won in the end of April 2023. [YONHAP]

Subway and bus fares in Seoul could rise by 300 won (24 cents) next April.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that discussions on a possible hike were underway due to snowballing deficits in the city caused mainly by a nationwide welfare policy that offers free rides to senior citizens and people with disabilities.

The last time that public transit fees in Seoul were raised was in June 2015.

The precise size of the increase will be decided after opinions are gathered from the public, the Seoul Metropolitan Council and the city’s so-called Price Countermeasures Deliberation Committee, which is composed of civic group representatives, experts and policy officials.

The increased fare could be implemented as early as the end of April 2023, the Seoul government said in a press release.

Under the plan currently being discussed, base subway fares in Seoul will rise from 1,250 won to 1,550 won. Base bus fares will rise from 1,200 won to 1,500 won.

When paid in cash, as opposed to transportation or credit cards, subway fares will rise to 1,650 won and bus fares will rise to 1,600 won.

In the release, the Seoul city government blamed the central government for not offering financial support to make up for its losses, saying that without any assistance from state coffers, a hike was “unavoidable.”

“Public transportation fees had been delayed as much as possible because they can directly affect people’s livelihood,” said the city.

“But since [the city’s proposal for financial assistance] was excluded in the [central] government’s budget for next year, a rate hike has become inevitable due to intensified difficulties operating” the transportation systems.

According to city statistics, Seoul’s subway system incurred an annual average loss of about 920 billion won from 2018 to 2022, while that of the bus system hit nearly 540 billion won.

Inflation and rising labor costs pushed the subway's total deficits from 587.8 billion won in 2019 to 995.7 billion won in 2021. This year’s figure is expected to be 1.26 trillion won.

Deficits in Seoul’s bus system have also risen from 353.8 billion won in 2019 to 735 billion won in 2021, with this year’s figure expected to reach 658.2 billion won.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government pointed out that a hike couldn’t be delayed any longer, especially for the sake of replacing outdated facilities.

About 66.2 percent of all facilities in the Seoul metro system are outdated, the city said. Along subway lines No. 1 through 4, which are the most popular, 73.1 percent of facilities are old.

“We’ve really reached a critical point where self-rescue efforts and financial support alone cannot [allow us to] overcome the severe deficit,” said Baek Ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s City Transportation Office.

“We have no choice but to increase the rate,” Baek continued, “but we will continue efforts to create a safe environment and improve services.”

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]