Seoul-Gangwon public transit gap sevenfold, lawmaker says, urging review of regional transport conditions

A new analysis shows that the mix of transportation people actually use varies sharply depending on where they live, with urban and rural residents relying on vastly different modes of travel.

Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee representing Yangcheon-gap in Seoul, obtained modal share data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and released the findings Tuesday. Public transit accounted for 20.1 percent of all trips nationwide in 2024. Of the average 171.65 million daily trips recorded that year, 34.45 million were made by bus or rail. However, 119 of the country's 252 city, county and district administrative units — 47.2 percent — recorded public transit modal shares below 10 percent.

The modal share figure measures how much each mode of transport — private cars, buses, rail and others — accounts for in total travel, and is used to assess and compare transportation patterns across regions.

The analysis calculated public transit usage by combining bus and rail trip shares, with rail defined to include KTX high-speed trains, conventional rail and subway services.

Among provinces and metropolitan cities, Seoul posted the highest public transit modal share at 37 percent, followed by Incheon at 23.2 percent, Busan at 22.1 percent and Gyeonggi Province at 21.3 percent. Gangwon Province recorded the lowest at 5.3 percent, followed by North Jeolla Province at 6.2 percent, South Jeolla Province at 6.7 percent, North Chungcheong Province at 7.5 percent and North Gyeongsang Province at 8.0 percent. Six regions — Gangwon Province, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province, North Chungcheong Province, North Gyeongsang Province and Sejong — all fell below the 10 percent mark.

The disparities widened further at the city, county and district level. Of the 252 administrative units nationwide, 119 (47.2 percent) had public transit shares below 10 percent, and 186 (73.8 percent) fell below 20 percent. The sub-10 percent group comprised 75 counties, 37 cities and 7 districts. The lowest rates were recorded in Uiryeong-gun in South Gyeongsang Province at 1.4 percent, Yeongyang-gun in North Gyeongsang Province at 1.5 percent, Yeongdeok-gun in North Gyeongsang Province and Jinan-gun in North Jeolla Province each at 1.6 percent, and Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province at 1.8 percent.

Areas with low public transit usage showed correspondingly high rates of private car dependency. Of the 252 administrative units, 107 had private car modal shares of 50 percent or more. In rural county areas, 60 of 82 counties saw cars account for more than half of all trips, and the overall car modal share for counties stood at 54.5 percent — 13.5 percentage points above the national average of 41.0 percent.

While public transit use has risen over the past four years, the gap between the greater Seoul area and the rest of the country has not narrowed. The national public transit modal share rose 2.3 percentage points, from 17.8 percent in 2021 to 20.1 percent in 2024. Over the same period, the greater Seoul metropolitan area climbed from 25.7 percent to 28.2 percent, while non-metropolitan regions rose from 10.3 percent to 12.3 percent — leaving the gap slightly wider, at 15.9 percentage points in 2024 compared with 15.4 percentage points in 2021.

Significant variation was also found among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts. Jung-gu posted the highest public transit share in the capital at 54.8 percent, followed by Yongsan-gu at 52.0 percent and Jongno-gu at 50.0 percent. Yangcheon-gu recorded the lowest at 22.5 percent, followed by Gangdong-gu at 26.1 percent, Nowon-gu at 27.8 percent and Dobong-gu at 29.4 percent.

"The gap in modal shares by transport mode is a clear indicator of the polarization of actual transport infrastructure across regions," Hwang said. "In areas with high car dependency, we need to closely examine the real conditions of everyday transport — including public transit accessibility, service frequency and route coverage."

He added that he would work to develop legislative and policy measures to close the transport gap between the greater Seoul area and the regions, and between urban and rural communities, and to ensure genuine freedom of movement for all residents.