"Afraid of Omicron, I Avoid Public Transportation" [End-of-Year Scenes During the COVID Era]

Safety First Even If It Takes Time
Decrease in Public Transportation Usage
Seoul's Average Daily Subway Ridership Also ↓

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] "It takes more time due to traffic jams, but I think it's safer than public transportation."

Lee (33), an office worker commuting from Nowon-gu to Seocho-gu in Seoul, recently started commuting by car as the spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron increased. Although he has to spend about 30 minutes more on commuting due to traffic congestion, he feels psychologically more secure from infection because there is almost no contact with others. He also cited the advantage of being able to take off his mask inside the vehicle. As Omicron infections have been reported consecutively in Korea, the number of people commuting by car instead of public transportation is increasing. This is due to concerns that even if masks are worn, they could still be infected with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Seong (31), who lives in Seongdong-gu, also started commuting by car last week for similar reasons. Although it is boring to be alone in the car during the trip to Ilsan and he is still not used to driving, he changed his commuting method for his family. Seong said, "It is not a big problem if I get infected alone, but I was worried about passing the virus to my wife," adding, "Since you never know when or where you might get infected with COVID-19, I try to be extra cautious."

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the use of public transportation has been declining. According to an analysis of the integrated big data system for transportation cards by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the use of public transportation such as buses and subways decreased by about 27% last year compared to 2019 before COVID-19. According to Seoul City, the average daily number of subway users on lines 1 to 8 dropped from 7.319 million in 2019 to 5.297 million last year. This year, up to November, the average daily usage is 5.313 million. The reduction in public transportation operation by up to 20% after 10 p.m. on weekdays, implemented by Seoul City as part of strengthened social distancing measures, also appears to have had an impact.

Professor Cheon Eun-mi of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ewha Mokdong Hospital said, "Even if you commute by public transportation, if you wear a KF mask properly and follow hygiene rules such as hand washing, I think there will be no major problems," but added, "Since a private car is used only by oneself, it can provide more psychological stability than public transportation."