제 28 호 A New Public Transportation Pass
A Benefit or a Burden
Kicker: LIFE
A New Public Transportation Pass
: A Benefit or a Burden
By Leesoi, Cub-Reporter
(Created by Midjourney)
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and the credit card industry, the government announce the introduction of an unlimited pass in the form of Flat rate K-pass for frequent public transportation users to ease the burden of transportation costs from 2026. The tentative ‘Flat-Rate Pass’ is being discussed as it would allow users to freely use public transportation up to a monthly limit of 200,000 won by paying a fixed fee of 55,000 won for youth, seniors, low-income households, and families with multiple children, or 62,000 won for the public in this manner. If the plan includes the Greater Seoul Express Transit (GTX) and regional buses, the fixed fee would be 100,000 won for the public and 90,000 won for the eligible groups. If this option is finally adopted, a simple calculation shows that purchasing a 55,000-won monthly pass and using 200,000 won worth of public transportation in a month could save up to 145,000 won. Pre-registration will be available from December 2025, and applicants can register online via the official website or app, or offline by bringing an ID and completing the application at community centers or transportation card issuing offices. It is a policy that only looks very good for students and office workers, but is it? We should think about problems that may arise upon the flat rate pass before this plan is commercialized.
Compare flat rate pass, K-passand Climate Companion Card
First, the K-Pass is a nationwide transportation card that refunds the public 20% for the general public, 30% for the youth, and low-income groups save 53% if they use public transportation 15 times or more per month, up to a maximum of 60 rides. The Climate Companion Card is a commuter pass costing 62,000 won per month (55,000 won for youth), allowing unlimited use of subways and buses in Seoul. From 2025, the K-Pass mileage benefit will only apply up to twice a day. Therefore, if you use public transportation three to four times or more per day and live or frequently travel in Seoul (with monthly transportation costs exceeding 77,500 won), the Climate Companion Card may be more advantageous. Lastly, regarding the main topic of this article, the new flat rate pass being introduced in 2026 allows users to use buses and subways nationwide up to 200,000 won for only 55,000–62,000 won per month, as explained earlier. Even after the flat rate pass is introduced, the existing refundable K-Pass will remain available, and it will operate concurrently with the flat rate pass, allowing users to choose based on their usage patterns, which is the most important factor. For example, if you live in Seoul and use public transportation frequently, the Climate Companion Card, which offers excellent cost effectiveness, is the most suitable card if you are limited to Seoul. Or, if I live in Gyeonggi Province and commute to other areas, using public transportation more than 3-4 times a day, the flat rate pass that provides the most benefits for nationwide public transportation is the most advantageous.
What negative effects could there be
First, the easiest thing to imagine is that as transportation costs decrease significantly, the frequency of public transportation use is expected to increase sharply. As a result, there are concerns that the density of subway stations could become even higher than it is now, raising the risk of various overcrowding accidents, especially during rush hours. However, concerns extend beyond congestion. The term flat-rate system inherently refers to a structure in which additional charges are waived once a predetermined threshold is reached. As a result, even if overall usage increases, the revenue that public transportation operators can collect remains fixed. This becomes a significant issue for bus companies, which rely on fares for 70–90 percent of their operating revenue. Even today, nationwide bus fares are rising annually due to transportation deficits, and in regions like Busan, Gwangju, and Jeonnam, where most operating costs are covered by transportation fares, such a system would have an even greater impact, leading to serious discussions about reducing non-main routes and consolidating bus companies. Shortly after the announcement of the introduction of a flat-rate pass, news came out that the Seoul City Village Bus Association would withdraw from the transfer discount system. As the frequent opposition and statements from bus companies show, the situation for bus operators cannot be described as favorable. Even without implementing a nationwide flat-rate pass offering tremendous benefits, residents in areas like Gyeonggi Province are experiencing inconvenience due to frequent strikes. Against this backdrop, if such a system were introduced, more frequent strikes could occur, and public transportation companies, which have no additional income from increased usage, could face limits in covering deficits with taxes, leading to a growing burden and potentially resulting in a vicious cycle of service reductions, route cancellations, and workforce cuts. Moreover, if the flat rate pass overlaps with the existing fare structure, there would be financial allocation issues. Currently, transfer discounts operate on a structure where subway and bus operators receive fares proportionally upon settlement, but with the introduction of a flat rate pass, it would become unclear which regions and modes of transportation generated the exponentially increased usage, overloading the settlement system and, in severe cases, posing a risk of collapse.
Finally, there are concerns that financial burdens could be concentrated in Seoul and the metropolitan areas, where the population using public transportation is large. Even if a flat rate pass is a nationwide policy, the cost burden varies by region. In Seoul, which has adopted a jointly managed revenue semi-public bus system, financial support has doubled each year over the past three years, amounting to 6.3 trillion won over 18 years since 2004. If a fixed rate pass is introduced, Seoul, with its extensive subway and bus lines, would bear the greatest burden, followed by the metropolitan area where commuting to Seoul is frequent, meaning that more than twice the current tax revenue would need to be spent on public transportation. Conversely, in smaller provincial cities with fewer users, revenue is expected to decline sharply, and along with claims of discrimination against non-metropolitan areas, conflicts over cost burdens are likely to intensify. Given these underlying conditions, the introduction of a flat rate pass raises another critical question that if bus driver unions refuse to accept the system due to insufficient revenue and decide to strike, what alternatives can the government offer to citizens who have already purchased the pass.
What alternatives can the government offer
The flat rate pass has very good intentions and offers significant practical benefits, so rather than seeing the system itself as problematic, we need to think deeply about how to handle the issues mentioned above if they arise. In the event of unexpected problems, the government is likely to manage the situation through various countermeasures. First, if deficits in buses or community buses worsen to the point where maintaining operations becomes difficult, the government can minimize inconvenience to citizens caused by service reductions or route closures by providing emergency financial support or increasing subsidies. Additionally, if the transfer discount system collapses or revenue distribution becomes unbalanced, the government can intervene by adjusting the operation time settlement method or providing compensation to operators experiencing significant losses for a certain period to mitigate financial shocks. In situations where public transportation congestion increases rapidly, measures can be taken to maintain good service, such as providing peak-time guidance, temporarily expanding operations during commuting hours, or adding extra buses. Real-time monitoring of pass usage data can also help identify overuse areas or low use groups, allowing for post-management measures such as imposing restrictions on certain sections, times, or user groups when necessary.
The Flat rate pass was introduced with the intention of reducing citizens’ burden of transportation costs, and it is clearly a good policy for our lives. But we as college students, need to analyze it from a variety of perspectives.
Sources: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/economy
http://www.jbsori.com/news/articleView
https://www.sisajournal.com/news/article
https://www.news1.kr/society/incident-accident/5971924
