Intercity and express bus fares will increase next month, adding several thousand won to the cost for passengers traveling long distances.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the fare cap for intercity and express buses will rise by 9% starting October 1. This marks the first fare increase for these services in over three years, following a 5% hike on July 5, 2023.
The bus industry has requested increases of 17% for intercity buses and 20.1% for express buses, citing rising labor and fuel costs. The ministry decided on a 9% increase after considering cost verification and the burden on users. Actual fares will be determined through procedures specific to each region and transport company within the adjusted cap.
Based on current fares, a simple application of the 9% increase provides an estimate of the new costs. As of September 1, the one-way fare for an adult traveling from Seoul to Busan on a standard express bus is 26,700 won, while the premium express fare is 39,700 won. Applying the 9% increase, the new fares would be approximately 29,100 won for standard and 43,300 won for premium, resulting in increases of about 2,400 won and 3,600 won, respectively.
For the Seoul to Daejeon route, the current standard express fare is 11,400 won and the premium fare is 16,600 won. After the 9% increase, these would be approximately 12,400 won and 18,100 won, respectively, leading to an additional burden of around 3,000 won for a round trip on the premium service.
The premium express fare for the Seoul to Gangneung route is currently 24,600 won. Using the same calculation, it would rise to about 26,800 won, an increase of around 2,200 won.
These amounts are not yet finalized as the ministry has only set the fare cap applicable to each route. The actual increase rate and final fares may vary based on decisions made by transport companies. Therefore, confirmed fares for each route will need to be checked during the booking process.
The fare increase is attributed to a decline in bus ridership and routes. According to the ministry, the average daily ridership for intercity buses dropped from 540,000 in 2019 to 270,000 last year, while ridership for express buses fell from 83,000 to 58,000, a decrease of about 30% during the same period.
The number of routes has also decreased. Intercity bus routes fell from 3,335 in 2019 to 3,177 last year, a 4.7% decline, while express bus routes dropped from 208 to 164, over a 21% reduction. The government explains that the bus industry's operating conditions have worsened due to insufficient recovery in passenger numbers following the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with rising labor and fuel costs.
The ministry plans to designate essential routes for support and implement measures to enhance the competitiveness of intercity and express buses alongside the fare adjustments.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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