Incheon~Seoul Yeoksam Station M-Bus Opens... Yeouido and Guro Routes Operate in First Half of Year

Three metropolitan express bus (M-bus) routes operating between Incheon and Seoul will be additionally launched in the first half of this year.

Incheon City announced that the M6461 bus route, running from Namdong-gu Soraepogu Station to Seoul Yeoksam Station, started operation on the 24th. Accordingly, the city expects that the metropolitan transportation demand entering Seoul from Nonhyeon-dong, Namdong-gu will be distributed between the existing M6410 route and the newly established M6461 route.

The city plans to open the M6659 (Geomdan Elementary School to Yeouido Complex Transfer Center) and M6660 (Geomdan Elementary School to Guro Digital Complex Station) routes within the first half of the year. Previously, the Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Committee designated the area as a focused management zone for metropolitan transportation measures.

Along with this, the city is currently selecting transportation companies for two new M-bus routes decided by the Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Committee in December last year. The additional M-buses will operate on the Yeongjong Sky City to Yangjae Flower Market route and the Songdo International City 6th District to Gangnam Station route.

Incheon Terminal~Yeoksam Station M Bus. Provided by Incheon City

Meanwhile, since Incheon City implemented the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation system in October last year, the operation rate has significantly increased. The number of operating buses, which was 179 at the time of the quasi-public system introduction, has now increased to 244, raising the operation rate (the ratio of operating buses to licensed buses) from 53% to 70.3%.

As a result, the average interval between metropolitan bus dispatches during peak commuting hours has been shortened by 8 minutes, and the average daily number of passengers increased by 21.7% (10,435 people), from 40,842 to 58,477.

An official from Incheon City stated, "We will expand M-bus routes and stably operate the metropolitan bus quasi-public system to provide better transportation services to citizens commuting to and from Seoul."