[New Transportation Refugee Report]⑤ Lee Administration Also Focuses Only on 'GTX' and 'Mobility Rights'... Is a 'National Basic Transportation Act' Possible?

Analysis of Campaign Promises and Election Messages
Limited Efforts Toward Policy Paradigm Shift
Expectations for the Role of the Transportation Mobility Policy Advisory Group
Likely Revision of the National Basic Transportation Act

The Lee Jaemyung administration is no different. While it is incorporating social structural changes such as population decline and aging into its overall policies, the connection to transportation policy remains weak. This administration has also aligned its approach with the framework of "enhancing the people's right to mobility" based on the GTX. According to President Lee's campaign pledges and messages during the election period, there will be rapid advancement of the GTX-A, B, and C lines, as well as extensions to the outskirts of the Seoul metropolitan area and Gangwon Province. There are also promises for new lines D, E, and F, and the announcement of a "GTX Plus" plan that includes lines G and H.

The administration has also included plans to connect Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon via the Gyeonggang Line, and to extend KTX and SRT operations to the northern border areas of Gyeonggi Province. Considering that the formation of special local governments for the five major mega-regions?Seoul metropolitan area, Southeast region, Daegyeong region, Central region, and Honam region?was also a major campaign pledge, the possibility of constructing "express railways for each of the five major mega-regions" is being raised.

On the other hand, efforts to shift the paradigm of transportation policy appear to be somewhat lacking. Expanding support for fostering advanced and high value-added industries, and integrating networks between different modes of transportation, are alternatives that have already been addressed by previous administrations. Even the "Population Future Committee," which was said to be a massive organization during the presidential campaign, did not include a transportation division. One official who participated as a committee member said, "Unlike other areas, transportation policy requires ultra-large-scale budgets to be invested over several years, so the Lee Jaemyung administration also plans to establish a policy roadmap that reflects changes in demand."

However, there are expectations for the role of the "Transportation Mobility Policy Advisory Group," which is reportedly set to advise on this administration's transportation policy. This think tank will support the formulation and implementation of transportation policy, and it is reported to be raising issues with the fragmented approach of previous administrations, where each ministry only pursued its own individual infrastructure projects.

The enactment of a "National Basic Transportation Act" also appears possible. The Basic Transportation Act, which has been under discussion for nearly a decade, focuses on ensuring non-discriminatory mobility rights and strengthening the quality of transportation services. The aim is to transform the current system, in which infrastructure plans are handled separately under the highest-level laws, into a service-oriented basic law that can encompass transportation-vulnerable groups and newly emerging transportation-poor populations. Kim Jain, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Transport Institute, stated, "The new administration is also preparing the enactment with the intention of ensuring universal mobility rights for the people," adding, "The directions of transportation policy that reflect social structural changes will naturally be included in the basic law."