Public transport in South Korea, which is widely used by people, includes buses, subways, and bicycles. Public transportation means all transportation facilities and means that provide transportation services available to the general public. The range of public transportation, including air, sea, and roads, is wide, and among them are city buses and urban railroads. Along with the rapid growth of Korea, public transportation has also developed to facilitate people's movement.
Background
After the Industrial Revolution, people began to flock to the city center. Factories began to sprout around the city. People working in factories settled around, and industrial activity increased at a rapid pace. As time went by, people from farther places began to flock. Public transportation such as trams and railways was installed for these people to move quickly. As the industry continued to develop, people gradually left the countryside and came to work in factories. These people naturally settled in close proximity to jobs or near easy-to-move stations. In other words, the city developed along the station. The concentration of population in large cities has continued and more transportation is needed to move these people.
The development of industry and automobile technology in the 1960s led to a growing number of people having own cars, mainly in advanced countries such as Europe. The number of cars has more than doubled in Europe in a decade. People can go anywhere, anytime by car. Even now, the demand for cars continues to grow. Increased demand for cars has also helped ease the population's downtown concentration. This is because you can buy a cheap house in a relatively remote area that was difficult to access by public transportation and travel by car. At first, residential areas were formed in the center of the city, and the size of the city grew as the concentric circle grew from the center. Of course, new roads had to be built and intersections, circular roads and highways had to be built to accommodate the growing number of cars. In other words, transportation systems such as private cars and road expansion have been developed to speed up travel time. The problem of environmental pollution is also a reason why public transportation has developed. The car's fuel is consumed and pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and dust due to incomplete combustion are also released. By the 1990s, cars also emitted sulfur dioxide.
Bus
Buses are one of the most popular means of transportation in Korea. Buses began operating in 1912, and were operated first in the provinces. There are also types of buses, including city buses, intercity buses, and express buses. In 2017, the total number of passengers transported in total was 5,968,577,185. Also the bus, which carries 65 people and operates every 10 minutes, has 390 passengers per hour. In the case of bus fares, the amount varies depending on the type of bus and the method of payment, and it also depends on the age. Like the card terminal image on the right, people pay the right fare by placing the transportation card on that machine. Among the various types (mainly classified according to distance traveled), there is a separate application for bus booking. The app has a simple payment function, so if you register only the card you want to pay for, you can make a reservation in just a few minutes if you choose the boarding date and the seat you want. There is also a machine at a bus stop in Korea that allows passengers to check their remaining balance by bringing a transportation card that they want to use. In addition, the arrival time and remaining seats of the buses at the bus stop in question are displayed on the electronic display board, which is very convenient. If you search the desired bus number in the search box in conjunction with the Internet, you can know the arrival time of the bus, bus car number, etc., even if the passenger is not necessarily at the bus stop.
Currently, not all buses in Korea are considerate of the disabled. For them, the number of low-floor buses with low footrest heights has increased compared to the past, but they are still lacking. Of course, in addition to this situation, there are some areas where low-floor buses are not suitable for running on some roads.
In principle, buses in Korea cannot carry food such as beverages. Especially when you ride with food that smells a lot, you get away from etiquette. In a similar vein, drivers can refuse to ride if they get on a bus without a mask as the coronavirus has become so prevalent recently.