Busan City to Raise Urban Railway Fare by 150 Won on the 3rd

October Last Year 150 Won Increase, 3rd Stepwise 150 Won Increase

Lower Actual Burden for Dongbaek Pass Users under Integrated Public Transport Discount System

Second Half K-Pass and Dongbaek Pass, Youth Dongbaek Pass Implementation, Increas

From the 3rd, urban railway fares will increase by an additional 150 won.

Busan City Hall.

Last August, the Busan City Price Countermeasures Committee decided to raise city bus fares by 350 won and urban railway fares by 300 won. Regarding the urban railway fares, it was decided to adjust them in two stages to reduce the burden on citizens caused by a single large fare increase.

Accordingly, following the 150 won increase in urban railway fares on October 6 last year, an additional 150 won increase will take effect on the 3rd.

Busan City stated that although the fare increase was unavoidable due to the accumulated deficit of Busan Transportation Corporation caused by free rides on the urban railway, the actual burden on users of the integrated public transportation discount system, Dongbaek Pass, will not be significant despite the urban railway fare hike.

The ‘Dongbaek Pass’ is a system that refunds excess usage fees (up to 45,000 won) in Dongbaekjeon when users registered in Busan use buses (city buses and village buses), urban railways, light rail, and the Donghae Line for more than 45,000 won per month, up to a maximum of 90,000 won per month.

Anyone aged 19 or older can subscribe to the ‘Dongbaek Pass’ and receive benefits. Since its implementation last August, as of the end of April this year, 430,000 people have subscribed. The cumulative number of refund recipients is 1,135,000, with total refunds amounting to 29.7 billion won.

Users subscribed to Dongbaek Pass can effectively ride free from the 29th trip (46,400 won) to the 56th trip (89,600 won) based on the first fare section (1,600 won), even after reflecting the urban railway fare increase.

This corresponds to twice daily usage over 28 days each month, and the city judged that typical public transportation users, such as commuters and students, would not have an actual transportation cost burden exceeding 45,000 won per month.

For city buses, the free ride effect applies from the 30th trip (46,500 won) to the 58th trip (89,900 won).

In this way, when receiving refunds through Dongbaek Pass, commuting by public transportation with an urban railway fare of 1,600 won and using it 40 times a month (5 days a week × 2 times × 4 weeks) reduces the fare to about 1,120 won per trip, and the more public transportation is used, the lower the fare per trip becomes. (At 56 trips, the fare per trip is about 800 won)

The city plans to continue efforts to expand the benefits of Dongbaek Pass by promoting ▲ linkage between K Pass and Dongbaek Pass and ▲ introduction of a youth Dongbaek Pass in the second half of this year, following the free fare for children and the introduction of prepaid Dongbaek Pass.

In October last year, public transportation fares for children aged 6 to 12 were made completely free, and in March this year, a prepaid Dongbaek Pass was implemented to allow low-credit users and foreigners to use Dongbaek Pass.

The city is continuously consulting with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Metropolitan Area Transport Committee) aiming to implement the linkage plan between K Pass and Dongbaek Pass in the second half of this year.

Also, for teenagers aged 13 to 18, the city plans to introduce a ‘Youth Dongbaek Pass’ in the second half of this year, which refunds up to 25,000 won when monthly public transportation usage in Busan exceeds 25,000 won, in consultation with the Social Security Committee.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “We will strive to continuously expand the benefits of ‘Dongbaek Pass’ and improve services by promoting linkage with K Pass and introducing the Youth Dongbaek Pass so that many citizens can use public transportation without burden through the integrated public transportation discount system, ‘Dongbaek Pass.’”