"Why Can't I Get On?" Commuters Face Daily 'War' for Seats on Metropolitan Buses

[Anchor]

Office workers commuting between the Seoul metropolitan area and the capital are engaged in a daily "war" to board metropolitan buses every morning and evening. The number of seats is far insufficient compared to the number of passengers, forcing some commuters to travel to previous stops just to ensure they can get on a bus and avoid being late.

Reporter Jeong Ji-yeon reports from the scene.

[Reporter]

At 6:00 PM, a long line forms at a metropolitan bus stop in Myeong-dong, Seoul.

Every time the number indicating remaining seats drops, the commuters' hearts sink.

[Commuter: That one just passed, and with zero seats left, I can't get on. I have to wait for the next one.]

Since standing is prohibited on metropolitan buses that cross city and provincial boundaries, passengers often find themselves waiting for the next bus, and sometimes the one after that.

[Im Yun-mi / Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province: When I take the bus during rush hour, I almost always have to let two buses pass by... It’s like that almost every day between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM.]

The morning commute is even more stressful for fear of being late, with long lines forming at stops as early as 6:30 AM on weekdays.

Some even travel to earlier stops along the route to secure a seat.

[Lee Yu-min / Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province: (What time do you have to be at work?) 9:00 AM, but I think I’ll be a little late today. I think they really need to increase the number of (metropolitan) buses. I don't know if they expect us to just wait, and I have no idea when the GTX will be completed.]

This is a metropolitan bus stop heading to Seoul from Dongtan New Town in Gyeonggi Province.

It is now just past 8:00 AM.

People are still lined up, waiting to commute to Seoul.

This commuting war occurs because there are many people working in Seoul, but a shortage of metropolitan buses and alternative transportation options.

The Great Train Express (GTX), a proposed solution to this problem, has seen construction delayed significantly across many sections.

In fact, seven out of ten metropolitan buses traveling between Yongin or Suwon in Gyeonggi Province and downtown Seoul are completely full during weekday morning rush hours.

[Lee Chul-ki / Professor of Transportation Systems Engineering at Ajou University: Cities with a high dependency on metropolitan buses, such as Yongin, Suwon, and Hwaseong, are areas where the commuting population is concentrated in regions not yet reached by the GTX. Because there are no real alternatives...]

While there is a flood of complaints demanding a significant increase in metropolitan buses during rush hours, the Seoul Metropolitan Government remains reluctant, citing the saturation of downtown bus-only lanes.

With no clear solution other than the opening of the GTX, the exhausting commute for office workers living in the metropolitan area is bound to continue for some time.

(Video reporting: Lee Sang-hak | Video editing: Kim Jong-tae | Graphics: Kang Yun-jeong)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.