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 hearts of commuters sink.

[Commuter: That one just passed, and it's at zero seats, so I can't board. I have to wait for the next one.]

Since standing is prohibited on metropolitan buses that cross city and provincial boundaries, passengers often have no choice but to wait for the next bus, or even the one after that.

[Commuter: During rush hour, I almost always have to let two buses go by... It’s like that almost every day between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM.]

Commuters are even more anxious during the morning rush, fearing they will be late, with long lines forming at the bus stop as early as 6:30 AM on weekdays.

Some even travel to an earlier stop just 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. They really need to increase the number of (metropolitan) buses. I don't know if they expect us to just keep waiting, and I have no idea when the GTX will finally open.]

This is a metropolitan bus stop in Dongtan New Town, Gyeonggi Province. It is currently just past 8:00 AM.

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

This daily "commuter 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 delays across significant sections.

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

[Lee Chul-gi / 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. Since there are no real alternatives, this persists...]

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 grueling commute for office workers living in the Seoul metropolitan area is bound to continue for some time.

Reported by Jung Ji-yeon | Written by Yoo Ji-won | Video by Lee Sang-hak | Video Editing by Kim Jong-tae | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung | Produced by SBS Digital News