An elderly person passes through a subway turnstile. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]
An elderly person passes through a subway turnstile. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has formed a senior transportation welfare committee to begin formal discussions on raising the minimum age for free subway rides and introducing bus fare support for older residents. The city also released survey results showing that more than half of residents aged 65 to 69 — the group most directly affected — support raising the free-ride age threshold and extending free bus service to those 70 and older.

The committee held its first meeting Wednesday afternoon at a video conference room on the sixth floor of Seoul City Hall, the city announced Thursday. The committee aims to build social consensus by comprehensively reviewing policy alternatives — centered on raising the free subway ride age and providing bus fare support for older residents — along with questions of fiscal sustainability, implementation and coordinated action across the greater Seoul metropolitan area. The city is pursuing a plan to raise the free subway ride age from the current 65 to 70, while simultaneously offering free bus rides to residents 70 and older. The central concern is the roughly 648,000 Seoul residents between 65 and 69 who would lose free subway access under the proposed change, according to the city's registered population statistics as of April 27 this year.

The committee is chaired by Kim Young-won, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University, and includes Democratic Party of Korea Seoul city council member Jang Se-hun, People Power Party Seoul city council member Ju Su-hyeon, Lim Se-gyu of the Korea Senior Citizens Association's Seoul chapter, Lee Yul-gi of the Seoul Senior Club Association, Lee Dong-su of the Generational Politics Research Institute, Shin Hee-cheol of the Korea Transport Institute and Jeong Sun-dul, a professor at Ewha Womans University.

The committee plans to hold in-depth subcommittee discussions on key agenda items before drawing up a range of policy alternatives. It will also run a public forum with more than 150 participants, including stakeholders and ordinary citizens.

A public awareness survey on Seoul's free subway ride system, recently conducted by the Seoul Institute, found that 77 percent of respondents supported the proposed policy of raising the free-ride age threshold and providing bus fare support to those 70 and older. Even among residents aged 65 to 69 — those with the most direct stake in the change — 57.4 percent, more than half, said they were in favor.

Yeo Jang-gwon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's transportation bureau, said the city would work with residents to find a balanced solution that guarantees real mobility rights for older people while squarely confronting rapid aging and shifting fiscal conditions. "We will carefully examine multiple alternatives, including adjusting the free subway age and providing bus fare support for older residents, and will thoroughly review coordinated implementation with metropolitan-area transit operators, fiscal sustainability and supplementary measures for vulnerable groups," he said.

Seoul is looking to Daegu, which has already raised its free subway ride age, as a reference. Daegu amended its municipal ordinance in 2023 to raise the free subway ride age by one year annually starting from 65. In exchange, the city decided to lower the age threshold for free city bus rides from 75 to 70. As a result, Daegu's free subway ride age stood at 66 in 2024, 67 last year and 68 this year, with the threshold set to reach 70 by 2028. The free bus ride age, meanwhile, has been lowered in parallel — from 74 in 2024, to 73 in 2025, to 72 this year.


cook@heraldcorp.com