Everybody's Card 30% additional refund before and after rush hour, also reflected in next year's government budget plan

Everybody's Card 30% additional refund before and after rush hour, also reflected in next year's government budget plan

The 50% reduction in the fixed refund standard amount applies until September.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yun-gu = The 'commuting time lag incentive', which provides additional transportation costs when using public transportation to avoid rush hour, will be extended until December.

The Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 28th that it will operate a system that applies an additional 30% point to the fixed-rate refund rate until December when everyone's card users use public transportation between 5:30 to 6:30 a.m., 9 to 10 a.m., and 4 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.

The government reflected the related budget in the 2027 government budget to continue the staggered time incentive next year.

However, the 'Half Price Everyone Card' benefit, which lowers the standard refund amount by half, will only apply to September usage as originally planned.

The committee explained that the staggered time incentive was also effective in distributing public transportation demand. After the implementation of the supplementary budget benefit, the average daily traffic volume for all time zones for those receiving refunds from Everyone's Card increased by 25.4%, but the traffic volume during commuting hours increased by 20.7%, showing a relatively small increase. The proportion of daily traffic during rush hour also decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 47.7%.

With this year's supplementary budget, the committee has reduced the standard refund amount for Everyone's Card by 50% and has implemented a benefit of adding 30% points to the fixed refund rate (20-53.3%) when using public transportation before and after rush hour.

After expanding benefits through the supplementary budget, the average monthly refund per user of Everyone's Card increased to 41,300 won, approximately double the 27,000 won before implementation. The average number of monthly refund recipients also increased by 22.3% from 2.83 million to 3.46 million.

According to an analysis by the Korea Transport Institute, after the implementation of related policies, the national public transportation share increased by 2.4 percentage points to 28.6%.