By 2040, the metropolitan railway will be tripled to 1,900 km… Living area within 30 minutes of metropolitan area

By 2040, the extension (total length) of inter-regional railways in metropolitan areas will more than triple, and all inter-regional buses will be converted to hydrogen and electric buses. The extension of the BRT bus will be increased by five times, and new concept public transportation services such as the BTX (Exclusive Express Bus) will be introduced and spread.

The Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 27th that it had prepared the ‘Second Metropolitan Area Transportation Basic Plan’ (2021-2040) based on these contents. The metropolitan transportation master plan is the highest-level long-term statutory plan in the transportation field established for metropolitan areas.

The second basic plan is to realize a living area within 30 minutes of a metropolitan area by first expanding the infrastructure of the metropolitan area. By expanding the metropolitan area express railway (GTX) and regional bases, the metropolitan railway network will more than triple from the current 604.3 km to 1900 km in 2040. The plan is to increase the proportion of beneficiaries of metropolitan express railroads from 7% at present to 80% by 2040. In order to improve road congestion, it is also working to solve the congestion section on the rise by expanding the ring road network and underpasses.

Low-cost and high-efficiency public transportation and transfer centers will also be expanded. The BRT will be extended from the current 291 km to 1500 km by 2040, and new concept transportation services such as super-BRT, BTX, and trams will be introduced and spread.

By 2040, 30 GTX-centric transfer centers, such as Seoul Station, Cheongnyangni Station, and Samsung Station, will be built, reducing the transfer time to less than 3 minutes and the transfer distance by half. In addition, futuristic transfer facilities for autonomous vehicles and urban air mobility (UAM) will be introduced.

As for the regional buses, the semi-public management system of the route bidding system will be expanded from the current three routes to all routes in the metropolitan area by 2030. It will also provide support for route expansion and increased vehicle operation.

The rate system is also improved. The integrated transfer discount system operated in the metropolitan area and some regional metropolitan areas will be expanded nationwide by 2030. It will also expand and introduce ‘regional-customized thrifty transportation cards’ in connection with regional public transportation policies. By diversifying transportation fares by time of use and seat class, and by diversifying commuter pass products, the range of user choices is broadened.

An eco-friendly transportation system will also be established. By 2040, the number of double-decker wide-area electric buses introduced this year will be increased to 600, and the wide-area buses will be converted to 100% hydrogen/electric buses. Hydrogen trams will also be developed and introduced through cross-ministerial research and development (R&D).

A smart transportation system is also implemented through technological innovation. From 2025, autonomous driving BRT and wide area buses will be commercialized in stages. The self-driving shuttle will also be introduced in 2026 to increase accessibility by rail and intercity buses.

In 2030, we will commercialize a metropolitan area integrated transportation service (M-MaaS) pilot project that enables integrated reservation and payment by connecting all means of transportation with mobile devices and an Internet of Things (IoT)-based automatic payment system.

Kim Kyu-hyun, head of the Daegwang-wi Transportation Division, said, “We will consistently promote metropolitan area transportation policies so that people can move to major bases faster and more comfortably without any inconvenience.”