Seoul set to decide on subway, bus fare hikes

SEOUL: The Seoul city government will on Wednesday decide by how much to mark up the South Korean capital city's bus and subway fares.

The city's transportation fare adjustment committee was to meet in the day to review proposals for hiking public transportation fares, including subway and buses, city officials said.

The committee is widely expected to raise the subway fare by 150 won ($0.12), effective from late August or early September, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The city had initially planned a subway fare markup of 300 won in April to cope with growing transportation budget deficits.

In line with the central government's stance to stave off rising living costs burdening households, however, the city had put off the hike plan to the second half.

It had also reportedly decided to go for two rounds of a 150-won hike over an extended period of time instead of a 300-won markup at once.

Also under consideration had been raising the subway fare by 200 won for the second half and by another 100 won in the second half of next year.

The basic subway fare currently stands at 1,250 won if paid by credit or transportation cards and 1,350 won by cash.

The committee is also expected to raise the fares of intracity, intercity and nighttime buses by 300 won, 700 won and 350 won, respectively, for the second half of this year.

It is the first time for public transportation fares in the capital to be hiked in eight years since the last markups in June 2015.

In a press conference earlier this month, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said a fare hike of at least 300 won would be enough to offset the city subway service's growing deficit.