Weekday base fare of 3,000 won to remain unchanged; higher rates planned for weekends, holidays and advance bookings

City says weekend demand will shift to weekdays, cross-subsidizing base fare

Public hearing Tuesday ahead of City Council review; tiered system targeted for first half of next year

A Han River Bus in service. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
A Han River Bus in service. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is moving to overhaul the Han River Bus fare structure, keeping the weekday base fare at 3,000 won while introducing tiered pricing for weekends, public holidays and advance reservations.

The city will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Seosomun Government Complex annex, gathering input from citizens, experts and other stakeholders.

Since the Han River Bus launched in September 2025, it has operated under a flat-fare system charging all passengers the same rate regardless of time of day or service type. The base fare was set at 3,000 won — comparable to metropolitan bus fares — to provide an affordable public transit option while generating revenue through ancillary services.

Under the current flat-fare system, ridership has become heavily concentrated on weekends and public holidays, driven by leisure and sightseeing demand. The crowding has prompted complaints about first-come, first-served boarding and long wait times, fueling calls for a reservation system. Questions have also been raised about whether it is appropriate to charge the same fare to weekday commuters and domestic and international tourists, whose travel purposes and demand patterns differ significantly from those of existing Han River tourism products.

In response, the city said it decided to pursue a tiered pricing system that would apply different fares based on demand patterns and service type — including weekend and holiday travel and advance bookings.

The city expects tiered pricing to encourage passengers to shift from peak weekend periods to weekdays. Additional revenue generated by the higher weekend fares would cross-subsidize the weekday base fare, allowing it to remain at its current level and preserving the service's role as affordable public transit, the city said.

The hearing will center on three topics: the purpose and rationale for introducing tiered pricing; the specific categories to which differential fares would apply, including weekend and holiday travel and advance ticket purchases; and the ceiling fare relative to the base fare under the new system. The session will include a keynote presentation, designated panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Keum Jae-deok, a professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Seoul, will chair the hearing. The Seoul Institute will also present research findings on minimizing the fiscal impact of Han River Bus operations, covering the appropriate fare level and the financial effects of fare changes. The designated panel will include Park Dong-ju, a professor in the Department of Transportation Engineering at the University of Seoul; Choi Yong-ho, head of the passenger policy team at the Korea Shipowners' Association; and Han Sang-gyun, chief executive of Han River Bus.

The city plans to review the input gathered at the hearing and finalize a detailed fare structure before seeking the Seoul City Council's opinion and approval of a revised operating agreement. The tiered pricing system is targeted for introduction as early as the first half of next year.

Park Jin-young, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Future Han River Bureau, said the top priority was to reflect the views of citizens, industry and academia through the hearing and arrive at a fare level the public can accept. "The Han River Bus is a multi-function platform that goes beyond daily commuting to let people enjoy the diverse charms of the Han River and Seoul," Park said. "Through this tiered pricing system, we will keep the weekday base fare as affordable as it is now while building a layered fare structure that responds to a wide range of demand."

Park had earlier disclosed at the "2026 Han River Bus Future Vision Forum," held at Seoul City Hall ahead of the service's first anniversary on Sept. 17, that the city was considering raising weekend and holiday fares to between 5,000 won and 10,000 won. "Because weekend demand for the Han River Bus is higher than on weekdays, we are pursuing a fare increase with the aim of distributing the cost burden more equitably among users," Park said, adding that a final decision was expected around April next year following the public hearing process.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at the forum that if the first year had been about confirming the Han River Bus's potential, the time had come to grow that potential into Seoul's future. "The starting point is redefining the identity of the Han River Bus," Oh said. He described the service as "a means of transport that handles citizens' daily movement and, at the same time, a multi-function platform that connects the Han River and every corner of Seoul, creating new urban experiences and economic value." Oh added that the Han River Bus was "a new concept in transportation that breaks the existing frame of defining it as either public transit or a tourism vehicle," and that its identity lay in faithfully upholding the fundamentals of public transit — safety, punctuality, reasonable fares and accessibility — while also delivering the scenic beauty of the Han River and the experience of discovering Seoul anew.


cook@heraldcorp.com