Seoul’s Urban Transportation Policy and Rail Transit …Transportation in Metropolitan Seoul The urban transport system in Seoul is changing continuously as the economy grows and

25Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000

Evolution of Urban Railways (part 2)

Feature

Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Seoul’s Urban Transportation Policy andRail Transit Plan—Present and Future

Gyengchul Kim and Jeewook Rim

Introduction

Traffic congestion and other transportationproblems have become a part of everydaylife in Seoul, as urbanization andsuburbanization have proceeded.Reliable transport services often cannotbe provided, hindering further urbandevelopment. In order to mitigate theproblems, additional infrastructure hasbeen constructed but is soon filled withnew users. Such ineffective transportationsupply management (TSM) has forced thegovernment to seek another approach tothe problem. As an alternative, transportdemand management (TDM) has beenimplemented extensively in Seoul to

increase public transport use and replaceexcessive use of private cars. Hence, theSeoul’s transport policies must considerbalanced application of TSM and TDM.There is strong emphasis on improving thepublic transportation system becauseSeoul’s buses and railways compete witheach other while use of private vehiclesincreases cont inuously. Hence,integration of different modes of publictransport has been accentuated to improvethe effectiveness of the transportationsystem. In particular, the urban rail systemis often considered as more user-friendlyand environmentally sound than buses,although it is costly. The recenttransportation policies focus on buildinga sustainable city by reorganization and

expansion of the rail system. This articlereviews the urban transportation of Seoulin terms of the transportation system andpolicies, the public transport, and the newrail plan.

Transportation inMetropolitan Seoul

The urban transport system in Seoul ischanging continuously as the economygrows and demand for transport increases.Until 1945, surface trams were the mostpopular mode and were used by morethan half of Seoul’s population. Publicbuses became the major mode whentrams were abolished in 1968. After 1960,the number of vehicles increased rapidly

Congested road in rush-hour Seoul (Author)

26 Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000



Table 1 Trend in Number of Vehicles

Total registeredvehicles (1000)

Private Vehicles(1000)

Vehicles per1000 people

60 207 1,193 2,043 2,198

18 99 826 1,520 1,704

10.9 24.7 109.4 128.0 160.0

1970 1980 1990 1995 1998

Figure 1 Seoul Population and Traffic

11,200

11,000

10,800

10,600

10,400

10,200

10,000

9,8001988 1989 1990 1991 1992

PopulationTraffic

1993 1994 1995 1996

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

Pop

ulat

ion

(100

0)

Traf

fic (

1000

)

Figure 2 Passenger Transport Modal Split

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

1978 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000

BusUrban railTaxiPrivate carsOther

Per

cent

age

due mainly to use of buses and taxies aspublic transport. However, even in 1970,the number of vehicles in Seoul was stillless than 60,000 and very few wereprivately owned. Buses were the primemode although the first urban subway wasbuilt in 1974. At that time, the subway’sshare was still only 6% of all passengertrips. Additional lines were constructedfrom 1985 and rail has since become theother major public transport mode.The economic development andurbanization are pulling more people intoSeoul, causing rapid growth in transportdemand within urban areas. However,since 1992, the population of the city coreitself has decreased steadily. In contrast,the population of Metropolitan Seoul hasinc rea sed con t inuous l y due t osuburbanization. In 1997, Seoul had apopulation of 10.3 million, or 22.9% ofthe national population. In 1996, trafficvolume reached 28 million people and2.3 million vehicles per day (Fig. 1).As income increases, private transportbecomes more popular than publictransport and this trend fuelled vehicleownership through the 1990s. Thenumber of vehicles in Seoul reached 1million in 1990 and doubled again by1995. Vehicle ownership is expected tocontinue to grow until it reaches thesaturation level. In 1997, 22% of thenation’s vehicles were concentrated inSeoul, with 75% of them privately owned.The figures in Table 1 are only vehiclesregistered in Seoul. If traffic flow intoSeoul is considered, the actual trafficvolume is much larger.The Seoul Metropolitan Government(SMG) recognizes the impact oftransportation problems caused by therapid growth in traffic volume and privatevehicle use. Initially, the SMG made greatefforts to expand roads and facilities to copewith increased demand. For example,paved road increased by 1.4 times from1980 to 1996. The ratio of public roads tocity area has increased from 17.3% in 1987

27Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

to 20.2% in 1996. In addition, five urbanexpressways totalling 147.5 km were builtduring the period. Despite huge effort andexpense, the 10-fold increase in cars overthe same period overwhelmed the progress.Until 1980, average vehicle speedremained above 30 km/h, but in 1990, itdropped to the lowest level of 16.4 km/h.As a result, the SMG introduced the TDMpolicy to hold down use of private vehiclesand maximize use of public transport use.In 1996, subways accounted for 36% ofriders; buses, 35%; private cars, 12% andtaxis, 7.6% (Fig. 2). The high 70% ofpassenger trips by public transport showsthe success of the TDM policy.

Transport Policy in Seoul

The Seoul transport policy has beenchanging over the last decades as the trafficenvironment has changed. In particular,the SMG is focusing on developing a publicmass transit network, consisting of bus andurban railways, as the principal transportsystem. Integration of public transportmodes is a priority in helping to replaceprivate car use. Specifically, the SMG is

planning to maintain a market share forpublic transit of 70% during rush hours and50% at other times. Therefore, the policymust be coordinated with several strategiessuch as road tolls, fuel tax, and parkingschemes to discourage use of private cars.The prime directions of the SMG transportpolicy are:Improvement of urban railway and bussystems• Continuously extending railways and

dedicated bus lanes• Improving serv ice speed and

convenienceEffective controls on private cars• Discouraging private car use by using

road tolls and fuel taxes• Controlling parking in dense areasExpans ion o f in f ras t ruc ture andintroduction of intelligent transport system(ITS)• Constructing urban expressways

(circular, radial)• Automating control of traffic flow by

developing ITSIntegration and coordination of transportsystems in metropolitan area• Easing transfer between transport

modes

• Linking urban rail and expresswaynetworks for regional travel demand

Reduction of traffic accidents andimprovement in traffic environment• Improving pedestrian facilities• Encouraging green travel modes and

improving traffic facilities

The transportation census conducted bythe SMG in 1996 showed that trafficvolumes between Seoul and its newsatellite cities had increased enormouslycompared to the inner city. In addition,the importance of urban railways has beenhighlighted by suburbanization increasingthe need for longer and faster trips.Therefore, the SMG realized the necessityfor overall modification of transportationplanning with emphasis on publictransport. The next sections give a briefexplanation of buses and railways.

Public Bus Service

Seoul’s public bus service began in1953 and played an important role inthe city’s early economic and physicalgrowth. Through the 1960s, the roleof buses in urban transport expandedrapidly, and in 1971, they accountedfor 74.2% of al l passenger t r ips.Currently, 89 private bus companiesoperate 8726 buses throughout themetropolitan and suburban areas. Eachcompany operates different routes withno competition on any particular route.Service level does not greatly influencepassenger volume, so it is hard to findgood standardized services.The SMG regulates the bus companies asa public utility to ensure reliable services.It ensures a route monopoly by regulatingroute changes, fare levels, vehiclenumbers and service frequency. Thesesevere restrictions on bus operators makeit hard for the companies to optimizeservice levels and respond to marketchanges. Also, they cause an unbalancedDedicated bus lane in Seoul (Author)




Bus stop on dedicated bus lane (SMG)

distribution of transport modes, increasingprivate vehicle use in particular. Thisoccurs because the number of buspassengers is stable unless an alternativetransport mode is offered. Furthermore,bus operators are reluctant to improveservice levels through competitivebehaviour, so they tend to minimizeoperational costs instead of seeking toexpand market share.However, in recent years, the number ofpublic bus trips has fallen constantly dueto competition with urban railways,increased private vehicle ownership, andworsening road congestion. In 1991, 43%of all trips were by bus. By 1994, thisfigure had fallen to 38%, and fell again to29.5% in 1996. In concrete terms, a buscarried an average of 1093 passengerseach day in 1989 but this had fallen to645 people per day in 1994. WhileSeoul’s public bus companies depend on

fares for revenue, recent decreases inpassengers have caused losses becausethe SMG sets low fares that it is hesitantto change. This hinders serviceimprovement and reinvestment becauseof business uncertainty due to the lack ofgovernment support. Consequently, thecompanies rationalize their costs byreducing service frequency and quality.Recently, the SMG has made severalattempts to improve the bus service. Thededicated bus lane (DBL) is a goodexample of a successful strategy toimprove service and increase use.Although the first DBL was established in1984, the length of DBLs had onlyreached 89 km by 1993. Since then, thelength has grown much more quickly,reaching 174 km in 1994 and 226 km by1996 when average bus speeds improvedto 20.9 km/h.

Urban Rail Transit

Unlike the public bus service, Seoul’srailway system is constructed andoperated by the government. It forms areliable and comfortable mass transitsystem within Seoul’s traffic policy.Although Seoul’s urban railways have onlya short history dating from 1974, they area key transport mode and occupied 35%of passenger trips in 1996. When phase2 of the urban rail network is completedlater this year, the total route length willbe 278 km and about 42% of all passengertrips will be by rail. Previously, additionallines in municipal areas were proposedto achieve a target share of 70%, but theSMG replaced the plan with a new urbanrail network plan based on the 1996transport census. The network plan(Fig. 3) consists of seven lines providingexpress services, and a light rail system.It is expected to satisfy demand andimprove the efficiency of the rail systemthroughout the metropolitan area.

The System

The urban railway network in Seoulconsists of Seoul Subway and Metro Rail,operated by two public corporations.Seoul Metropolitan Subway Corporation(SMSC) operates lines 1 to 4 of the Seoulsubway, and Seoul Metropolitan RapidTransit Corporation (SMRTC) operateslines 5 to 8 of Metro Rail. In 1997, theseven urban railways in Seoul totalled216.5 km in length (line 6 is still underconstruction) and carried 4.5 millionpeople daily. Also, Korean NationalRailroad (KNR) operates 57.3 route-kmwithin the Seoul city boundary. Thenational government finances andoperates KNR.


Figure 3 Current Urban Railway Network in Seoul

Subway

Suburban railway

Kyung In Railway

An San Railway Kyung Bu Railway

Kyung Won Railway

IL San Railway

Eui Chung Bu Railway

Kwa Chun Railway

Pun Dang Railway

Line 3Choong DongChoong Dong

Kwang MyangKwang MyangKwa ChunKwa Chun

Pyung ChonPyung Chon

Ko Yang

Kim Po

Choong Dong

Pu Chun

Si Hung

Kwang Myang

An Yang

Kwa Chun

Pyung Chon

Ha Nam

Ku Ri

Nam Yang Ju

Duk SoTo Pyung

Eui Chung Bu

Subway platform with passenger information screen (SMRTS)

The Facilities

With the increasing passenger levels, somefacilities have become worn out and thetwo corporations are constantly renewingthem. To improve safety, the SMSC hasinstalled colour TV monitors and automaticalarms on every platform. Passengers areinformed of all train arrivals and departures.To improve passenger comfort, olderstations and rolling stock are beingrefurbished with air-conditioning, andbarrier-free facilities for disabled people arebeing installed. In particular, wheelchairlifts have been installed in every stationalong with barrier-free toilets and tactiletiles. To improve intermodal transfer andenvironment friendliness, 24 parking lotshave been built at 22 stations, along with47 bicycle racks at 47 stations. Sixteenstations have both car and bicycle parking.

Operation and Management

The average rail speed is 35 km/h butheadways are different on different lines.The capacity has been increased bymaking constant efforts to introduce newrolling stock and to shorten headways. In1991, carriage overcrowding reached243% but the level was lowered in 1996to around 200% by operating 10-car trainsets on all lines. The headway is 3 to 5minutes during rush hours and 4 to 6minutes at off peak times. Service startsat 05:30 and the last train is at 01:00.Daily service frequency ranges from 1009trains on Line 2 to 350 trains on Line 7.Ridership has improved over the last 7years as new lines have opened; ridershipon lines 1 through 4 operated by SMSCpeaked in 1995, but dropped slightly in1996 and 1997 due to several factors,especially the opening of SMRTC’s phase-2 lines in late 1996. Interestingly, the newlines have not had a synergistic effect onincreasing ridership, suggesting that urban




Automatic Fare Collection System (SMSC)

Figure 4 Future Direction of Urban Rail

Improve service levels onexisting lines

Reorganize urban railwaystructure

Seoul Urban Transit System

Reinforce transfers andthrough operations

Build sustainableurban environment

railway policy should focus more onencouraging ridership rather than on newconstruction.

Future Direction of UrbanRail System

As briefly mentioned, the SMG haschanged the earlier urban rail plan basedon the 1996 transportation census.Suburbanization and growth of newsatellite cities have increased demand forsuburban express services, so the newurban rail plan increases the distancebetween stations to 2 km or more tofacilitate express services. In addition, alight rail transit (LRT) system is beingconsidered to meet demand in Seoul’s citycentre and to improve accessibility.The SMG defines the role of urban railsystem by four criteria (Fig. 4) that shouldbe coordinated with Seoul’s urbandevelopment plan. First, services onexisting lines should be improved. Inaddition, the urban railway structureshould be reorganized to meet increasingdemand due to suburbanizat ion.Moreover, accessibility should beimproved by more through operations andeasier transfers. Finally, the plan aims tobuild an environmentally friendly urbanrail network.

Effects of New UrbanRail System

The SMG believes that it is impossible toestablish a public transport network thatwill meet transport demand by the end ofthis year. By 2026, the SMG plans to carry53.3% of a l l passenger t r ips inMetropolitan Seoul. To accomplish thisgoal, the SMG is planning to constructadditional feeder lines, especially LRTs toareas with passenger demand of less than20,000 per hour. This will help minimizeconstruction and operation costs.The proposals are to:• Improve service levels on existing lines.


The new rail system aims to reducecongestion on existing routes andimprove accessibility. The total lengthof seven proposed lines is 106.5 km,and perhaps 147.5 km if extensionsto existing lines (Table 2) are built.

• Reorganize urban railway structure.The proposed lines will offer expressservices to suburban areas. As theurban structure becomes multipolar,traffic volumes to and from Seoul willexpand enormously. Reorganizationmakes further suburbanizationpossible.

• Reinforce transfers and throughoperations.Several areas are poorly served dueto lack of lines. The proposed lineswill enhance service levels byshortening commuter trip times.

• Build sustainable urban environment.The SMG aims to reduce air pollutionand noise from other transport modes.In 1998, motor vehicles generated82.1% of air pollution in Seoul. Asenergy use by the transport sectorgrows, reduction of air pollution bymaking better use of environment-friendly railways is essential.

Conclusion

Since the late 1980s, government policieshave been planned and implemented tosupport a modern transport system forSeoul. However, the explosion of privatecar use has blunted some of the reforms.Investment in new infrastructure can easeconditions to some degree, but controlling

urban sprawl, developing new transporttechnologies , and seeking moreparticipation by citizens in policydevelopment are other alternatives forsolving urban transport problems.As the new millennium begins, Seoul’stransport system must be redefined by

Gyengchul Kim

Dr Kim is a research fellow at the Seoul Development Institute. He

obtained his doctorate in Transportation Engineering from Seoul

National University and has been a visiting researcher at the Institute

for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds in the UK, and at the

University of Kyoto in Japan.

Jeewook Rim

Mr Rim is a postgraduate student in the Department of Geography at

the Australian National University in Canberra. He obtained a masters

degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Newcastle,

Australia.

Central traffic control room (SMRTC)

Table 2 New Urban Rail Network Plan

Line A 26.0

Line B 17.5

Wolgae–Chongrang Line 19.0

Mia–Samyang Line 13.0

EunPyung–Sinlim Line 16.0

Mockdong Line 8.0

Puchon LRT Extension Line 7.0

106.5

Line 9 38.0

Line 3 Extension 3.0

147.5

Lines Length (km)

New suburban Line

New branch lines

Planned lines

Subtotal (7 Lines)

Total (8 Lines)

promoting integrated environment-friendly public transport. The urban railsystem must be examined carefully andtransport planners must consider Seoul’sunique attributes rather than simplycopying the policies of other cities. �

Documents

Seoul’s Urban Transportation Policy and Rail Transit …Transportation in Metropolitan Seoul The urban transport system in Seoul is changing continuously as the economy grows and