- Fares go up for the first time in eight years: subway fares now start from KRW 1,400 (up KRW 150), blue buses start from KRW 1,500 (up KRW 250) -

- Bigger deficit of the public transportation network due to rising prices, and the need to replace old infrastructure drive the decision to adjust fares -

Incheon is upping its subway and bus fares for the first time in eight years. 

Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok) announced that the City’s subway and bus fares will increase by KRW 150 and KRW 250, respectively, starting from the first train on October 7 (Sat). 

For an adult passenger paying by credit card, the base fare for the Incheon subway network will go from KRW 1,250 to KRW 1,400, and fares for the blue bus will go from KRW 1,250 to KRW 1,500. The ferry fare for local islanders will also increase to KRW 1,500.

Meanwhile, Incheon has been preparing to increase its public transportation fares in line with the central government’s policies to adjust the prices of public services across the country. The City, however, trying to avoid steep adjustments in order to keep the impact on locals to a minimum given how the surge in prices has worsened the financial pressure on families over the past couple of years.

Metropolitan area subway fares, along with Incheon subway lines 1 and 2, are also set to go up from KRW 1,250 to KRW 1,400 when paying by credit card (adult passengers) on October 7. The integrated transfer discount system and additional fares tied to traveling distance will remain unchanged.

Bus fares when using a credit card (adult passengers) will go from KRW 1,250 to KRW 1,500 for inter-city (blue) buses, from KRW 950 to KRW 1,200 for intra-city (green) buses, from KRW 1,300 to KRW 1,550 for seated inter-city buses, and from KRW 1,650 to KRW 1,900 for buses traveling to and from Yeongjong-do Island (increase of KRW 250 each).

As for seated buses to and from Yeongjong-do, local residents of Yeongjong-do are eligible for a special discount to offer better access to public transport. This means they can pay KRW 1,500 instead of the full KRW 1,900 when getting on or off in downtown Yeongjong.

Fares for metropolitan (red) buses (seated, express buses) connecting Incheon and other parts of the metropolitan area will increase by KRW 350 - from KRW 2,650 to KRW 3,000 - and fares for the metropolitan Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will go up by KRW 400 - from KRW 2,200 to KRW 2,600.

Incheon subway and bus fares have been frozen for eight years since their last hike back in June 2015. However, the growing deficit of Incheon's public transportation system, due in large part to relentless inflation and increased labor costs, has put pressure on the City government to adjust prices. The deficit now stands at KRW 173.6 billion for the subway network and KRW 264.8 billion for the City’s bus network, and this ultimately pushed Incheon to apply new prices to make sure it can continue to offer safe and convenient public transportation.

Incheon City Transportation Director Kim Jun-seong said, “We plan on using the additional fares to improve the quality of our transportation services, and create an environment where the public can enjoy safe and convenient public transportation services.”