Ministry confirms demand-spreading effect on public transit
Off-peak users eligible for refunds of up to 83.3%
The average monthly refund paid to Modu Card users has risen to 41,300 won ($30) — about 2.5 times the level seen last year — as the government moves to sustain its off-peak commute incentive policy to encourage greater public transit use.
The Metropolitan Area Transportation Commission under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday it would extend the off-peak commute incentive through December, citing confirmed evidence that the program has spread peak-hour demand across other time slots.
The ministry secured a supplementary budget this year to cut the flat-rate refund threshold for Modu Card by 50 percent and to add a 30-percentage-point bonus on top of the existing percentage-based refund rate — which ranges from 20 to 53.3 percent — for transit use during the hours immediately before and after peak commute times.
The off-peak incentive applies when users ride public transit during designated off-peak windows: 5:30–6:30 a.m., 9–10 a.m., 4–5 p.m. and 7–8 p.m. During those hours, the percentage-based refund rate rises by an additional 30 percentage points. Under the percentage-based Modu Card scheme, refunds are calculated by applying a user-category refund rate to the total monthly transit fare. The flat-rate scheme, by contrast, refunds the portion of monthly transit spending that exceeds a threshold set by user type and region. Users are automatically refunded whichever amount — percentage-based or flat-rate — works out higher.
Under this structure, Modu Card users received refunds equivalent to about 60 percent of their transit fares on average, while those who traveled during off-peak hours received up to 83.3 percent back.
The commission said the average monthly refund per Modu Card user reached 41,300 won since the supplementary budget measures took effect — up from 20,700 won before the measures were introduced and roughly 2.5 times the 16,500 won monthly average recorded last year.
About 3.46 million users received refunds each month on average, a 22.3 percent increase from the roughly 2.83 million before the supplementary budget took effect. The Korea Transport Institute said the policies, including the off-peak incentive, lifted the national public transit modal share from 26.2 percent to 28.6 percent, a gain of 2.4 percentage points.
The share of daily trips made during peak commute hours fell from 49.55 percent to 47.67 percent, a decline of 1.88 percentage points, or about 3.8 percent, indicating that demand previously concentrated in rush hours has begun shifting to other parts of the day.
The commission said it would extend the off-peak incentive through December while ending the "half-price Modu Card" benefit — which halved the flat-rate refund threshold — as originally planned after September usage. The Korea Transportation Safety Authority and the participating card companies plan to notify users separately.
"The Modu Card supplementary budget benefits implemented over the past six months have made a real difference in easing the transportation cost burden on the public amid high fuel prices and in encouraging greater use of public transit," Metropolitan Area Transportation Commission Chairman Kim Yong-seok said. "We will continue to closely analyze usage data and shifts in time-of-day demand, and keep developing measures to reduce transportation costs while promoting public transit use."
smh@heraldcorp.com
