An intercity bus between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul passes a stop in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on Friday morning. Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

A 30-year-old office worker surnamed Kim who travels from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, to downtown Seoul on her morning commute, left home half an hour earlier than usual on Friday. After hearing that intercity buses would no longer accept standing passengers, she was nervous that she might be late for work.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to board a crammed bus, Kim barely made it on time.

"Almost all seats were taken by the time the bus reached my stop," she said. "I guess I should leave home at least 40 minutes earlier from now on. I hate standing in long lines in the cold weather, but I have no other choice."

Her frustration was felt by many other Gyeonggi Province residents who are experiencing inconveniences due to the provincial government's sudden ban imposed on standing passengers, a measure that was announced on Tuesday and implemented three days later.

For commuters using intercity buses between the province and other regions, standing in the aisle when no seats are left on the bus used to be a common practice. Although it is technically illegal under the existing law, which stipulates that all passengers must be seated in vehicles on highways, stand-on-the-aisle rides were allowed exceptionally during the morning and evening rush hours, considering the large number of commuters using intercity buses.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government, however, has decided to prohibit the unsafe practice in the aftermath of the Itaewon crowd crush, which took place on Oct. 29 and saw 158 people lose their lives.

Under the ban, a total of 1,100 buses operated by 14 companies running 146 intercity routes will no longer accept more passengers when there are no seats left. This accounts for 46 percent of the buses that operate between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul. According to the operators, there were some 3,000 standing passengers a day.

A digital sign on an intercity bus in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province reads that there are no seats left, Friday. Yonhap

To reduce the inconvenience caused by the no-standing policy, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to add 15 more buses by the end of this month. The provincial government, for its part, will deploy 53 additional vehicles by early 2023.

Yoo Jeong-whon, a professor of transportation systems engineering at Ajou University, welcomed the ban but advised authorities to swiftly improve the transportation system to minimize the frustration of commuters.

"This is not the first time local authorities have attempted to end the unsafe practice. The ban was introduced following the Sewol Ferry sinking in 2014, but was poorly implemented due to a lack of follow-up measures to make up for the shortage of seats," he told The Korea Times.

As a possible solution, Yoo said the authorities should increase the number of intercity buses at least during rush hour when demand significantly outstrips supply.

"Adding more vehicles running all day is not a cost-effective measure because the demand is far less during the daytime," he said.

"The government should really pay more attention to the intercity transportation system and increase investments in the area to make daily commutes more convenient for tens of thousands of office workers who travel between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul. Daily commutes have a big impact on the overall quality of life," he said.