Buses are parked at a public bus depot in Seoul. [Yonhap]
Buses are parked at a public bus depot in Seoul. [Yonhap]

Taking public transit in Seoul adds only a fraction of time compared to driving, a new analysis has found. While cars were up to three times faster than public transit in some rural areas, the gap in Seoul was just 1.2 times.

The Seoul Institute's Smart Transportation Research Lab said Seoul's Public Transportation Car Time Ratio — or PCTR — stood at 1.21, the lowest in the country, in a report on the relationship between urban indicators and public transit use.

That means a trip that takes one hour by car in Seoul takes one hour, 12 minutes and 36 seconds by public transit. The PCTR measures how long a public transit journey takes relative to the same trip by car: a value of 1 means the two modes take equal time, while a value of 2 means public transit takes twice as long.

The report, recently published by Seoul Institute researchers Han Young-jun and Jeong Sang-mi, calculated PCTR by selecting local government offices — city, county and district offices — as key destinations, then using Naver Maps to find the optimal travel times for at least 25 routes on the same date and time, and averaging the results.

Among other regions, Busan posted the second-lowest PCTR at 1.46, followed by Incheon at 1.54 and Gwangju at 1.76. Jeju (1.77), Gyeonggi Province (1.82), Daegu (1.97) and Gangwon Province (2.00) also came in below 2.

South Chungcheong Province, by contrast, recorded the highest PCTR at 2.88, meaning a one-hour car trip takes roughly two hours, 52 minutes and 48 seconds by public transit.

Several other regions also fared poorly: South Jeolla Province (2.66), North Jeolla Province (2.36), North Chungcheong Province (2.35), Ulsan (2.20), South Gyeongsang Province (2.19), North Gyeongsang Province (2.13) and Daejeon (2.05).

"Most special and metropolitan cities have a PCTR below 2, while many general provincial areas exceed 2," the report said. "Special and metropolitan cities have more concentrated urban functions and better-developed public transit infrastructure, resulting in relatively shorter transit travel times."

The research aimed to analyze how various urban indicators — including socioeconomic factors — affect public transit ridership, with findings intended to inform future transportation policy.

To that end, the researchers collected data from 17 cities and provinces across South Korea and 91 cities in 55 countries, analyzing factors including general urban characteristics, cost of living, infrastructure by mode of transport, travel times and car regulation policies.

Among domestic regions, higher PCTR values corresponded to lower public transit use — the longer public transit takes relative to driving, the less people use it.

Areas with more rail stations, bus stops and buses per unit area also tended to see higher public transit ridership.

Higher population density, a larger share of workers in the total population, and a lower proportion of elderly residents were also associated with greater public transit use.


woo@heraldcorp.com