2024-01-04 13:44:56
Passengers waiting for a bus at the bus stop at Myeong-dong entrance, Jung-gu, Seoul around 6:30 pm on the 4th / Reporter Kim Hwi-won
“I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes for the bus that took 5 minutes, but it hasn’t arrived.”
Citizens are complaining of pain as traffic congestion on the way home from work near Myeong-dong, Seoul, a habitually congested area, has become more serious recently.
Myeong-dong entrance bus stop located in Jung-gu, Seoul. Last month, the city of Seoul installed a new boarding location guide at this place where 29 metropolitan bus routes pass. This caused a ‘bottleneck phenomenon’ where buses were stuck in a narrow section, congesting bus traffic in the area.
The area where congestion is most severe is the approximately 1.8km section from Seoul Station through Namdaemun to Myeongdong.
The road in front of the Myeongdong entrance stop at 6pm on the 4th when the early work procession began. More than 20 intercity buses bound for Gyeonggi-do were lined up along a 300m section. Although most buses arrived near the stop, they were unable to pick up passengers right away and waited for a long time for the car in front to leave.
Mr. Ahn (42), an office worker who is waiting for a bus to Dongtan here, said, “Since the sign was installed, it now takes over an hour and a half to get home from work, which normally took an hour. This place used to be clogged, but this is the first time I’ve seen it clogged to this extent.” “He said.
App screen capture showing the location of buses passing through downtown Seoul. /provided by readers
Congestion is said to have worsened following Seoul City installed new boarding location guidance signs on the 23rd of last month.
Thirteen signs with bus route numbers were installed on the sidewalk at intervals of regarding 1m. In the evening, when many passengers are coming home from work, an ‘infinite waiting line’ is formed with buses trying to stop in front of each sign.
Before installation, boarding and disembarking positions were not fixed except for some buses, so up to three buses might stop at the same time, reducing problems.
Another passenger, Mr. Jo (51), who was waiting for a bus to Dongtan, said, “I checked with a mobile phone app and there were 6 buses I was waiting for on the road between Seoul Station and Myeong-dong. Even following the bus arrived at Myeong-dong, it took regarding 15 minutes to get on the bus. “It will take a while,” he said.
Mr. Jeon (50), an office worker who commutes by bus to Bundang, said, “It seems like it takes an hour to get two stops to Myeong-dong because the buses are so crowded.” “It’s the same, installing signs is a typical desk administration,” he said.
The city of Seoul says it installed signs at stops for safety reasons. An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government explained, “We received complaints that many passengers were rushing to catch the bus and were worried regarding stampede accidents, so we installed it to make the stopping location clear.”
The city announced that in order to resolve the congestion problem, 5 of the 29 routes that pass through the Myeongdong entrance stop will be redirected to other sections this month.
A line of buses waiting to pick up passengers in front of the bus stop at Myeong-dong entrance, Jung-gu, Seoul on the followingnoon of the 4th / Reporter Kim Hwi-won
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