"Why Can't I Get On?" Commuters Struggle with Daily 'War' for Metropolitan Buses

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Office workers commuting between the Seoul metropolitan area and Seoul are engaged in a daily "war" to board metropolitan buses every morning and evening. The number of bus seats is far insufficient compared to the number of people trying to board. Some commuters even travel to previous stops just to avoid being late.

Reporter Jung Ji-yeon reports from the scene.

[Reporter]

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

Every time the number indicating remaining seats decreases, 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 bus.]

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.

[Commuter/Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province: If I try to board 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.]

Worried about being late, commuters start lining up as early as 6:30 AM on weekdays, feeling even more anxious during their morning commute.

Some even go as far as traveling to a previous stop to board.

[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 keep waiting, and I have no idea when the GTX will finally open.]

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

It is currently just past 8:00 AM.

People are still standing in long lines to commute to work in Seoul.

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

The Great Train eXpress (GTX), which is intended to solve this problem, has seen construction delays in significant sections.

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

[Lee Chul-ki/Professor of Transportation Systems Engineering at Ajou University: If you look at cities with high dependency on metropolitan buses, such as Yongin, Suwon, and Hwaseong, these are areas where the commuting population is concentrated in regions not yet reached by the GTX, leaving them with few alternatives.]

While there is a flood of complaints demanding a significant increase in metropolitan buses during rush hours, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is 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.

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