Public Transit in South Korea
- Sarah Taylor
- Feb 28, 2023
- 4 min read
Hello! When we first got here, I was in awe of the transit. TripAdvisor even has the metro listed as as one of the top 3 things to do in Seoul (I'm not kidding - here's a link https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294197-d2194168-Reviews-Seoul_Metro-Seoul.html). But I have said many times that I could write several pages about transit in South Korea so I finally sat down to dig for the inspiration that I had when I first got here. (Also, a few of you are coming to visit so some of this info might be useful)!
Before coming to Korea, I knew that the transit was very good and efficient and that was about it. I was worried about it all being in Korean and difficult to understand and this is true, for the buses. However, it turns out that all the subways have signs and announcements in Korean, English and Mandarin. The ticket dispenser machines also have several language options and are easy enough to use.
When we first arrived in Korea, we had to fly to Incheon airport, take the subway to Gimpo airport and then fly from Seoul to Busan. That was when we learned that although the subway system is super advanced, the ticket dispensers only take cash (or maybe they just don't take foreign cards). Luckily, someone at the airport was able to communicate this and used his badge to let me through the turnstile without a ticket so I could get cash from the ATM.
Ever since moving to Busan, we have been using transit cards (which you also load up at the subway stations with cash). We were silly excited when we learned that you just need one transit card here - for the whole country. I can tap on for buses and subways in Busan, Seoul, Geoje island, and Jeju. Even intercity buses let you pay with your transit card (although Cam and I are too type A to not buy tickets in advance for big trips). Certain stores and taxi drivers apparently also accept these transit cards but now that we have Korean debit cards, it's easier to just pay debit. You can buy either a Cashbee or T-money transit card, they are the same.
You don't have to get a transit card since you can always just pay cash, but it feels a lot more convenient and the cards only cost $2.50 Canadian and you save $0.10 on your fare (plus another $0.50 because I'm sure you'll forget every time to get the refund on your paper ticket). You can buy them at some subway stations in Seoul and at most convenience stores. And if you don't use all the money on the card, you can get it refunded (says the internet. We haven't tried).
The obvious benefits of transit here are that it's cheap ($1.20 per subway trip unless you're going really far), you can get all over the country and everything arrives reliably on time. But it's also clean and has these cute details like the transfer stations all have a song that's played when the train's arriving. We always know when it's the stop before ours because it's a beach stop so they play seagull noises. When you tap on and off the subway, the turnstile says something to you (right now it's advertising the bid for the 2030 expo). For the elderly, the turnstile says thank you and for kids it says hello.
When you're waiting for your train, there's a little animation showing how far the train is. The announcement is also displayed on the screen when the train arrives and the screen shows someone giving the announcement in sign language as well. Every single station also has glass in front of the track so there are none of the crazy stories of people falling on the tracks here that happen in Toronto.
I am super impressed at how accessible the subway is as well. They have elevators at every station (although Cam and I always take the stairs) and elderly seating in every cart (Cam and I mistakenly sat there when we first arrived but now we never do). The subway washrooms have child-size sinks and urinals. And it's all super clean. Except for the one time I saw a cockroach under a seat...
In Seoul, it would have taken us the same amount of time to take a cab as to take transit everywhere that we wanted to go. In Busan, there are some places where a cab will be 10 minutes faster. Cabs are also pretty cheap here compared to Canada. I think the 30 minutes to the airport was maybe $20 CAD.
Another nice addition to the subway stops is the numbered exits. In Toronto, I found it was often confusing whether I wanted to be on University Avenue East side, buses going West or University Avenue West side, buses going East... Somehow, despite being in a country where I don't speak the language, it is SO MUCH EASIER here. Your map will tell you exactly which numbered exit to take so that you can avoid crossing 3 roads outside. (Your map will also tell you which subway car to go on for a fast transfer/exit).
I will mention that we were a little bit confused transferring at Seomyeon - the busiest downtown subway station in Busan (where you need to figure out which way to go to be on the right side of the track). We don't go that way often but it is a busy station and it can be hard to find the signs. The arrows on the floor are the easiest signs to find in the crowds but the floor signs are only in Korean.
Finally, subway stations are where you will find
1. garbage cans
2. washrooms
3. pharmacies, bakeries, sometimes underground malls.
I'm not sure why, but we can never find a garbage can outside here. Since trash is picked up 3 times a week, there are often garbage bags outside buildings waiting for pickup everyday of the week. I think that sometimes people just add trash to those? One time, we saw a tiny trash bin at a pedestrian crossing at about eye level. But usually we cannot find a garbage bin anywhere so we'll just carry our trash until we get to a subway station and then dump the garbage there. Or we'll bring our plastic cups back to the cafe that gave us them and feel super silly for not just eating in.
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