Starting this month, one in four buses in Seoul will no longer accept cash tickets. Tickets must be paid for with a physical transport card or a mobile transport card.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 1st that it will increase the number of ‘cashless buses’ from 436 on 18 routes to 1,876 on 108 routes starting this month. The share of cashless buses among all buses in Seoul rose from 6% to 25%.
Seoul city bus fares can be paid with cash or transit card. It’s 100% cheaper to pay with a transit card for adults, and most citizens use transit cards because they don’t have to carry change. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the ratio of cash users on city buses last year was 0.6%.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been gradually expanding it after starting a pilot project for ‘cashless buses’ on eight bus routes in downtown Seoul in October 2021.
The reason the city is abolishing cash rides is for safety reasons. An official from the city of Seoul said, “The driver stops driving because he has to pay change, and there are accidents where passengers are hurt by hitting the cash box or getting their clothes caught and tear them.” There is also the trouble of having to move the cash box every time the drivers get out of the garage.
If you board the ‘cashless bus’ without a transit card, you can download and use the mobile travel card app or get the ‘fare payment guide’ and make an account transfer. As a result of the city’s pilot operation of cashless buses from October 2021, the fare recovery rate was 99.6%, and the majority paid the fare.
An official from the city of Seoul said, “We plan to implement the ‘cashless bus’ and reflect the results to decide whether to expand it in the future.”
