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Is Free Public Transportation Feasible in Korea?

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Is Free Public Transportation Feasible in Korea? 1. Introduction Public transportation is defined as a shared passenger transport service with a scheduled timetable and specific route that is available for use by the general public.1) Public transportation modes include buses, metro (subway), trams, trolleybuses, ferries etc. and are distinct from modes such as taxicabs, carpools or hired buses, which are not shared among strangers without private arrangement. Public transportation between cities is dominated by intercity (express) buses, intercity rail, and airlines. Is Free Public Transportation Feasible in Korea? Public transportation provides the general public the basic mobility services to employment, community resources, medical care, and recreational opportunities in communities. People who do not have access to a private motor vehicle such as young students, the aged, the poor, and people banned from driving use public transportation for their travel. Some people also choose to use public transportation since it is cheaper than the cost of driving a car. Public transport services can be operated and managed by profit-driven companies or partially or fully funded by government subsidies. In many Asian countries, public transportation services are predominantly run by privately owned profit-driven companies. In North America, public transportation services are provided by municipal transit authorities. In European countries, public transport operations are often outsourced to private transport operators.2) 1) In some areas, the terms “mass transit”, “public transit”, “public transport” are used for public transportation. 2) Wikipedia, “Public Transport”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport (accessed on Jul. 23, 2014). July / August┃2014┃Vol 19┃No 4 27 Most public transportation services are financed with the farebox revenue from the fare paying passengers and/or government subsidies via tax revenues. Public transportation fares basically depend on the traveled distance or zones. Tickets purchased may be validated either by pay-per-ride systems or proof-of-payment fare-collection systems. A proof-of-payment system allows passengers to ride the vehicles without showing the ticket, but riders may or may not be controlled by ticket inspectors who can levy steep fines when they catch passengers without proper proof of payment. Both fare-collection systems may generate the cost associated with collecting, accounting, and enforcing fare payment that is insufficiently covered by the farebox revenue. Several European cities and some smaller towns around the world have converted their public transportation services, especially bus networks, to a fare-free system. Fare-free public transportation services are funded fully by heavy government subsidies or commercial sponsorship by businesses. In the past June local elections in Korea, some candidates put forward campaign pledges such as free bus services, which have been questioned much in terms of feasibility. This article aims to discuss the feasibility of providing free public transportation service in Korean cities by overviewing the cases of free public transportation services around the world. 2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Public Transport Other than providing basic mobility services to all members of society, public transportation also helps to reduce road congestion, air pollution, and fuel consumption, which benefits both riders and non-riders alike. Public transportation becomes a location of inter-social encounters across all boundaries of social, ethnic and other types of affiliation. Public transportation enables reducing transport cost per passenger by achieving an economy of scale that may not be achievable through personal transportation modes. Advocates of public transport claim that investing in mass transit will ultimately reduce the total transport cost for the public. The reduction in dwell 28 KIET Industrial Economic Review time helps to reduce travel time, and the travel time saved can also be significant. Fewer cars on the road can result in less congestion and faster speeds for remaining vehicles on the road. Transit-oriented development Current Issues (TOD) to maximize access to public transportation can both improve the usefulness and efficiency of the public transportation system, as well as result in increased business for commercial developments. For these reasons, there are many proponents around the world supporting the idea of free public transportation. But there are also arguments against the idea of free public transportation. Nearly all public transport requires government subsidies and/or direct government support in order to provide adequate service. Providing public transportation and any extension or improvement of the public transportation service requires large funding from either the local government or private investors. As the fare free public transportation ridership increases, the cost of provision may increase as well. Thus, the opponents of the free public Table 1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Public Transport Advantages Disadvantages Cost of Service - Lower administrative costs - Farebox revenue shortfall - Faster transit vehicle loading and unloading - Ridership increase not from Impact on Transit Service - Significant increase in ridership choice riders - Staff to focus on the quality - Problem riders and effectiveness of service - Psychological costs in personal Internal - Elimination of fare disputes security Transit - Transit Vehicle Driver’s - Increase in aggregate boarding Environment Satisfaction times Impact on - Less confusion over transfers - Increase in costs for possible System Quality of and different types of fares expansion/maintenance of Effectiveness Service - Reduction in cost per rider service due to increased ridership - Breakdown of barriers between Community - Damage on the system’s public the transit-dependent riders Image image because of problem riders and the choice riders Source : Jennifer S. Perone et al. (2002).3) 3) Jennifer S. Perone et al. (2002), “Advantages and Disadvantages of Fare-Free Transit Policy”, National Center for Transportation Research (NCTR-473-133). July / August┃2014┃Vol 19┃No 4 29 transportation idea say that user-pays systems are fair and lead to a more efficient allocation of scarce resources. Free public transportation may encourage people to use it more than needed and may lead to some disruptive passengers. Consequently, opponents of the free public transport argue that fares can be used to moderate demand and lead to more effective use of limited resources. In areas of higher potential demand, increased ridership from fare-free public transportation might result in the need for additional equipment and maintenance. Table 1 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of free public transportation in terms of cost of service, impact on transit service and on quality of service. 3. Cases of Free Public Transportation There are several mid-size European cities and many smaller towns around the world that provide city-wide public transportation system for free.4) Free shuttles for local inner-city areas, university campuses, or airports are far more common than city-wide systems. Free shuttles are often operated as part of the services by the local government, university campus, or other public facility. (1) Seoul, Korea In the late 1990s, major department stores and discount stores offered free and regular shuttle services with several routes to attract more customers. Rising gas prices due to the depreciation of the won against the U.S. dollar in the aftermath of the IMF bailout funds have encouraged day time shoppers, mostly housewives, to use the free shuttle bus services run by the cultural centers of major department stores and discount stores. Altogether there were 4) List of towns and cities with area-wide free public transportation can be found at Wikipedia webpage of “Free public transport”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport (accessed on Jul. 23, 2014). 30 KIET Industrial Economic Review over 2,500 shuttle buses operated by 303 department and discount stores across the country, and they experienced increases in sales.5) However, the growing popularity of shuttle buses became an eyesore to the public Current Issues transportation companies as threatening their businesses and resulted in a lawsuit requesting the unfair practice to stop. Free shuttle bus services were suspended in the lawsuit by public transportation companies in 2001. Though shuttle buses are not operated by profit-driven transportation companies, it can be categorized as public transportation since it runs fixed routes with fixed time schedules. Nowadays there are still several free shuttle services operated by universities or by local governments. Seoul National University, for example, provides free off-campus shuttle buses connecting the campus with subway stations for the convenience of its students. Some of the major hotels also offer a free shuttle service between their location and certain areas within the city. Local cities such as Busan, Jeonju, and Gangneung run free shuttle bus services between Seoul and the cities as part of an initiative to boost tourism for local festivals. (2) Hasselt, Belgium The city of Hasselt in Belgium began to offer city-wide free public transportation in 1997. The transport network in Hasselt is mainly by bus. The number of travelers in addition to the number of routes and buses has increased with time. According to the city’s official record, the ridership was
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